Health workers in Somalia’s capital, Mogadishu, have launched a campaign to educate residents about the growing danger of an outbreak of acute diarrhoea.
Officials say 121 people were killed in a suspected cholera outbreak in south-central regions last month, and more than 200 are now admitted in hospitals suffering from acute diarrhoea.
”The acute watery diarrhoea is spreading,” Mohamed Fuje, head of the World Health Organisation in Mogadishu, told Reuters late on Sunday. ”But we are not yet sure if it is cholera.”
Late last year, the Horn of Africa nation was ravaged by the worst floods for decades. Insecurity following a war between Islamists and government troops backed by Ethiopian forces has made humanitarian operations all but impossible.
At greatest risk are about 250 000 displaced people sheltering in the capital, who mostly live in squalid conditions inside the remains of bombed-out buildings, often in crude tents made of plastic bags and sticks. Fuje said the priority was to expand access to safe drinking water and to raise awareness of health issues outside the city.
”Local radio stations and television can help educate the public on how to contain the spread of this contagious disease,” he said. ”We also need to improve the social conditions of internally displaced people and to educate them as well.” — Reuters