As the fleeting storms of May give way to the persistent downpours of June, the National Cholera Taskforce in Freetown, Sierra Leone, is working to prevent a repeat of last year’s cholera outbreak.
In 2012, President Ernest Bai Koroma was forced to declare a state of emergency during Sierra Leone’s worst cholera outbreak in over 15 years. The disease spread rapidly through the 12 of the country’s 13 districts, fuelled by heavy rainfall and inadequate sanitation. By the time it was brought under control, over 20,000 people had been infected and almost 300 killed in Sierra Leone, a further 10,000 infected and 100 killed in neighbouring Guinea.
So far this year, there have been 365 reported cholera cases and two deaths - figures significantly lower than at the same point last year.
Fodae Dafae, acting head of the cholera taskforce, is confident that enough has been done to prevent a similar outbreak. He highlighted a campaign to raise awareness of the disease and how to avoid it.
“Awareness creation is ongoing,” he told IRIN. “People know about it now. They’re talking about it.”
Following the 2012 epidemic, donors, aid workers and health officials agreed that West African countries must do more to prepare for cholera, given it recurs each year. They called, in particular, for targeted investment in at-risk zones, such as in Kambia district, in northern Sierra Leone.
In addition to posters and billboards, Dafae says local radio stations are broadcasting cholera information in all of the Sierra Leone’s various languages. The UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has also been staging plays on the subject.
Efforts are also underway to ensure that medical centres across the country are fully stocked with saline drips and other relevant medical equipment before the rains intensify over the coming weeks.
Vaccination, however, which was used with some success by Médecins sans Frontières during a similar outbreak last year in neighbouring Guinea, is not being pursued as an option. “Cholera vaccines are not cheap,” Dafae said.
Pix courtesy Tommy Trenchard/IRIN
More at IRINNEWS
No comments:
Post a Comment