Risk of water-borne disease outbreaks high in Somalia
Children waiting to be vaccinated in Kenya: WHO
The risk of water-borne disease outbreaks is high in Somalia's drought-affected areas because of poor access to drinking water, poor living conditions in overcrowded camps and malnutrition.
That's according to the World Health Organization spokesperson, Tarek Jasarevic.
There are already several confirmed cases of measles, cholera and dengue fever in and around the Somali capital Mogadishu.
WHO has organized activities such as the chlorination of water to avoid acute watery diarrhea, says Jasarevic.
"Confirmed cholera outbreaks are ongoing in regions of Mogadishu, Bay, Mudug and Lower Shabelle regions. Confirmed measles and confirmed dengue fever cases have been identified in Mogadishu as well. Dengue fever has also been confirmed in Somaliland regions. Just in Banadir Hospital, Mogadishu, 4,061 acute cases of watery diarrhea had been reported since the beginning of the year, out of which 76 per cent were children under the age of five". (Duration: 29″)
An influx into the urban areas and the limited number of health care providers, especially in the capital, Mogadishu, are exacerbating an already precarious public health situation, says Jasarevic.
