Treasury releases Sh500m in war on cholera outbreak
A meal being prepared near a trench in Bondeni, Nakuru. Cholera cases have been reported in the county. PHOTO | SULEIMAN MBATIAH
What you need to know:
The Sh500 million will be used to buy medical supplies, water treatment chemicals and for public education on prevention methods.
The Treasury has allocated half a billion shillings to fight the spread of cholera that has so far killed 65 people, with 3,234cases confirmed.
The Sh500 million will be used to buy medical supplies, water treatment chemicals and for public education on prevention methods. The outbreak began last December in 10 counties with Nakuru and Nairobi being the worst affected, reporting at least 16 deaths each as at May 18.
“This cannot be allowed to continue. We have the guidelines and we know what should be done to stop the outbreaks. We were just waiting for the resources which will now enable us to roll out the control strategies,” Health PS Khadijah Kassachoon said on Thursday.
She added that the ministry would focus more on prisons following reports that some inmates at the Shimo Latewa prison in Mombasa were affected by the infectious disease that is caused by drinking or eating contaminated water and food respectively.
Three remand inmates have died of cholera while 30 others have been isolated at the Shimo la Tewa Maximum Security Prison after an outbreak at the institution.
No new county reported a confirmed outbreak since May 13, the ministry said.
The outbreak is in 11 counties and no other region has reported a case, according to the ministry.
Mombasa, Murang’a, Kirinyaga, Baringo, Kiambu and Embu are the other affected counties.
The ministry said it had contained the bacterial infection in Bomet, Homa Bay and Migori.
The outbreak is attributed to poor hygiene and sewerage disposal that have led to the contamination of water and food with the cholera bacterium, vibrio cholerae.
The weatherman had predicted a looming cholera outbreak in the March-April-May long rains outlook. The Meteorological Department asked health authorities to be vigilant and stock hospitals with necessary drugs in order to cope with “cholera, malnutrition, and malaria outbreaks in regions that are expected to receive enhanced rainfall”.
Nearly 320 new cholera cases were reported in the week to May 13 — 97 in Murang’a, 49 in Nakuru, six in Mombasa, 81 in Nairobi, 15 in Baringo, 49 in Embu, six in Kirinyaga and 10 in Kiambu.
This is an increase from the previous week, when 226 new cases were reported. Six new deaths occurred in the past one week, five in Nairobi and one in Nakuru.
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