A spokesman for the Ugandan health ministry, Paul Kaggwa, said health officials had tried to evacuate places prone to cholera outbreaks, especially in Kampala, but unnamed politicians had frustrated their efforts. - Reuters AlertNet
Cholera outbreak downs dozens in Uganda
Independent Online
July 11 2005
Kampala - Cholera outbreaks in four different areas of Uganda, including a Kampala slum, have killed at least 38 people and infected more than 900 others since the beginning of June, officials said on Monday.
Twenty-four people have so far died in the north-western district of Arua, Alfred Driwale, a senior health official in the region, told reporters.A total of 14 others have died in the capital's Katanga slum and in the northern Nebbi and Gulu districts since the cases were first reported early June, officials said.
In addition to the deaths, 905 cases of cholera have been reported in the East African nation, with areas in northern Uganda inhabited by displaced people affected most, according to figures released by the health ministry.
Authorities have since banned selling of cooked food in all the affected areas while 11 schools and two markets have been closed in the Arua district, as a measure to contain the epidemic, Driwale said.
Aid agency Medicine sans frontières (MSF) - Holland said in a statement released here on Monday that acute water shortage in northern Uganda has exacerbated the problem of water-borne diseases."
People live on less than three litres of water per day, though the international acceptable standards are 15 litres...," Peter Muller, the head of MSF-Holland (Doctors without Borders), told reporters."
People have two options to get that little water; either to queue up for more than three hours each day at different water points or venture outside the camp parameters, where they risk falling victims to the roaming rebels of Lord's Resistance Army," the MSF statement added."As a result people collect contaminated water from the streets when its raining and river from rivers and springs that surround the camps, leading to an increase in water-related illnesses," it added.
Cholera is a waterborne disease which causes serious diarrhoea and vomiting and can be fatal if not treated within 24 hours. It can be prevented by washing hands before handling food and avoiding contaminated drinking water.
Death toll from cholera outbreak up in northwest Uganda
People's Daily Online
12 July 2005
Death roll from cholera outbreak has increased to 20 in Arua district, northwester Uganda, according to local media on Monday.
The district health educator, Ronald Ocatre, said the latest victim is a former revenue collector at Arua main market who died at his residence in Gurua village, Arua municipality last week.
Cholera first broke out in the district at the shores of River Nile in Rigbo sub-county last month.
After a week, the disease hit the upland Aca villages in Ogoko sub-county where it killed six people.
The epidemic is spreading throughout the district. its presence has been reported in Taraa, Adumi, River Oli, Aroi Rigbo and Ogoku sub-counties.
The district cholera task force, chaired by resident district commissioner Alfred Ogaba, has asked the municipal council staff led by Mayor Thabit Khalifan, to undertake a door-to-door inspection of sanitary facilities and also rid the town center of rotting garbage.
The health officials have conceded that poor hygiene practices and apathetic attitude of residents have undermined the struggle to control the spread of the disease in the district.
Cholera spreads quickly and can kill within hours.
The intestinal disease causes severe diarrhea, vomiting, muscular cramps and dehydration, and is spreading by water and food that have been contaminated by infected faeces.
Urbane Analysis: Cholera is just part of the total package in Uganda's north - the "triangle of disaster" marking the worst human conditions for human life on the planet, comprising Northern Uganda, Northeastern Congo and Southern Sudan. That cholera is reported in Kampala slums is extraordinarily concerning - and demonstrates how little control and impact the Museveni regime is having on improving the lives of ordinary Ugandans. And one word about the Katanga slum: it is not the worst (and certainly not the largest) slum in Kampala. And it is a place where many outstanding young people in the African Children's Choir received an education and a great deal more opportunity in life. Katanga slum is also a place where conditions are horrible, women are forced into atrocious choices, and HIV/AIDS is everywhere, as are orphans. Welcome to President Museveni's capital city. Update: this report indicates that the death toll is rising - and that the means of transmission is as simple as eating unwashed fruit - a major warning to tourists and travelers.
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