20 Sep 2012

GENEVA / SIERRA LEONE CHOLERA

The World Health Organization (WHO) today (20 September) said that as of 17 September 2012, a total of 18,900 cases including 273 deaths had been reported in the ongoing cholera outbreak in Sierra Leone since the beginning of the year. WHO IFRC

Posted at: September 20, 2012 5:20 pm

Duration: 02:55

Available in: SD

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STORY: GENEVA / SIERRA LEONE CHOLERA
TRT: 2.55
SOURCE: WHO / INTERNATIONAL FEDERATION OF THE RED CROSS (IFRC)
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / NATS

DATELINE: 20 SEPTEMBER 2012, GENEVA SWITZERLAND / FILE

SHOTLIST:

20 SEPTEMBER 2012, GENEVA SWITZERLAND

1. Zoom our, press conference
2. SOUNDBITE (English) Dr William Augusto Perea Caro, Coordinator, WHO Control of Epidemic Diseases:
"The epidemic is still raging, however since the peak in the beginning of August where we have around 2100 cases per week we've gone down now to more or less 100 cases per week. Yesterday reports accounted for 180 cases in the entire country."
3. Cutaway, journalists
4. SOUNDBITE (English) Dr William Augusto Perea Caro, Coordinator, WHO Control of Epidemic Diseases:
"What we are seeing now progressively is that the cases on those places is gradually going down but the decease continues to spread slowly but progressively to the rest of the country."
5. Cutaway, journalists
6. SOUNDBITE (English) Dr William Augusto Perea Caro, Coordinator, WHO Control of Epidemic Diseases:
"Nobody should be dyeing of cholera, cholera is the easiest decease to treat. You need first ORS basically and when that's not enough you need IV procedure if you have that in hand you are not supposed to die so we need to make sure that there is people trained to do that in all of the levels of the health system and that that material is available when needed"
7. Close up, speaker labels
8. SOUNDBITE (English) Amanda McClelland, IFRC Emergency Health Officer recently returned from Sierra Leone:
"The cholera numbers are now stabilizing. We would emphasize the need to continue efforts to respond at a district level and a village level."
9. Cutaway, journalists
10. SOUNDBITE (English) Amanda McClelland, IFRC Emergency Health Officer recently returned from Sierra Leone:
"These are some of the worst slum conditions I've seen in my seven or eight years in Africa. I think these are slums built on coastal land at the bottom of fields, so everything at the top runs down when it rains and through the slum areas. There is no sanitation system so we've been working. The sanitation trucks drive to the coastal area beside a slum and dump the sludge into the water. It's not far from the fish market. I mean the number of risk factors in Freetown were overwhelming."

FILE – IFRC – 24 AUGUST 2012, FREETOWN, SIERRA LEONE

11. Wide shot, rain water running through slum
12. Med shot, pigs drinking water
13. Pan left, slum
FILE – IFRC – 28 AUGUST 2012, MAKENI, BOMBALI PROVINCE

14. Wide shot, hospital
15. Close, sign cholera ward
16. Various shots, patients

STORYLINE:

The World Health Organization (WHO) today (20 September) said that as of 17 September 2012, a cumulative total of 18,900 cases including 273 deaths had been reported in the ongoing cholera outbreak in Sierra Leone since the beginning of the year.

Briefing journalists in Geneva Dr. William Augusto Perea Caro, WHO Coordinator, at the Control of Epidemic Diseases section said that the epidemic was "still raging", but noted that since the peak in early August cases had gone down from around 2,100 cases per week to more or less 100 cases per week. Perea Caro said new reports indicated there might be  about 180 cases reported per week in the entire country.

The highest numbers of cases were reported from the Western area of the country where the capital city of Freetown is located.

However Perea Caro said that the cases on that area were gradually going down but still he said the decease continued to spread "slowly but progressively to the rest of the country".

He stressed that today cholera was an easy disease to treat and that, "nobody should be dying of cholera".

WHO and partners are supporting the government in the response to the outbreak through the Global Outbreak Alert and Response Network (GOARN), experienced case management and laboratory experts from the International Centre for Diarrheal Disease Research of Bangladesh.

Also at the briefing, Amanda McClelland, from the International Federation Red Cross 
emphasized the need to continue efforts to respond at a district level and a village level.

She also noted that Freetown had "some of the worst slum conditions I've seen in my seven or eight years in Africa". 
The Ministry of Health and Sanitation (MOHS) is closely working with partners at national and international levels to step up response to the cholera outbreak. The ongoing activities at the field level include case management; communication and social mobilization; water, sanitation and hygiene promotion; surveillance and data management.

Emphasis is being placed on early detection of cases and timely provision of treatment at the district levels in order to reduce deaths. Cholera cases are managed in cholera treatment units (CTUs) and where there are no established CTUs, emphasis is placed on designating specific areas within the health facilities for isolation purposes