Evelyn Lirri & Jane Nafula
4 September 2008
Kampala — The death toll from the Hepatitis E epidemic in northern Uganda has risen from 106 to 123, the Director for Clinical Services in the Ministry of Health, Dr Kenya Mugisha said yesterday.
At least five people have died in the last nine days since August 25, according to the latest update report issued by the Ministry, while the number of people infected rose from 6,563 to 7,757 in the last fortnight.
Dr Mugisha told Daily Monitor that although it is not easy to get infected, the appalling hygiene in the affected districts - where many people displaced by the Lord's Resistance Army insurgency live in squalid conditions in camps - had fuelled the disease's spread.
"Unless you drink or eat faeces, you will never get cholera, dysentery, and hepatitis E. Why should we continue dying after eating faeces when there is plenty of food to eat," Dr Mugusha wondered.
Dr Mugisha said hygiene related diseases are still a challenge to the country, with 76 per cent of diseases caused by poor hygiene and sanitation.
Dr Mugisha said if all people in Uganda were ensuring proper disposal of human waste, they would not be suffering from diseases like hepatitis E, cholera and dysentery.
Hepatitis E is an acute viral disease that can cause liver failure. The virus is transmitted to humans through consumption of drinks or food contaminated with faecal matter. An infected person develops a fever, headache, general body weakness, muscle pains and eventually develops yellow eyes and passes urine of a deep yellow colour. Hepatitis E initially struck Kitgum District in October 2007, but has since spread to Gulu, Pader and Yumbe.
Dr Mugisha said a joint mission comprising the minister of Health Dr Stephen Mallinga, World Health Organisation country representative, Dr Jean Baptiste Tapko, Unicef representative Keith Mackenzie and members of parliament visited Kitgum district on August 21 to review progress on Hepatitis E interventions.
This was after government, last month, launched a Shs10 billion "accelerated emergency response plan" to contain the epidemic in the affected districts.
The emergency response is focusing on teaching residents about proper hygiene, improvement of sanitation through construction of bore holes and pit latrines in IDP camps.
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