Cholera breaks out among the displaced
Dawn, Pakistan
http://www.dawn.com/2008/09/06/top12.htm
GENEVA, Sept 5: Cholera had broken out among up to 300,000
Pakistanis who fled the fighting between government forces and
militants, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said
on Friday. The situation in the Bajaur region remains "very
volatile" despite a government-declared ceasefire for Ramazan, a
senior ICRC official said.
The humanitarian agency's top priority was providing clean water and
sanitation to tens of thousands who fled Bajaur for nearby Lower Dir
district since the conflict intensified four weeks ago.
"Cholera has started in certain areas... It is a major concern,"
Pascal Cuttat, head of ICRC's delegation in Pakistan, told a news
briefing.
"The most immediate need remains access to clean water and
sanitation. No food, health care or shelter is going to be of any
good if people get water-borne diseases," he said.
Cholera, transmitted mainly through contaminated water and food, was
already endemic in the area, he said. It begins with acute watery
diarrhoea that in severe cases can cause death by dehydration and
kidney failure within hours.
The World Health Organisation said there were cases of acute watery
diarrhoea among the displaced, including two children who died, but
it had no confirmed reports of cholera.
"We understand these cases of acute watery diarrhoea are being
contained. A lot of treatment and sanitation efforts have been
undertaken," WHO spokesman Paul Garwood said in Geneva. —Reuters
Memories of Another day
While my Parents Pulin babu and Basanti devi were living
1 comment:
Thank you for shining a light on these often underestimated and even more often unknown ills. Diseases like pneumonia, diarrhea, and tuberculosis kill children in masses every day - and it's sad to know that a few simple hygienic actions could prevent so much death.
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