Kefa Atibuni
22 September 2008
Yumbe — Transportation of the sick to the hospital, purchase of drugs and time spent on attending to patients is estimated to have cost Yumbe residents Shs100 million following the frequent outbreak of epidemics which have killed 53 people in three years.
Presenting a paper on the sanitation and hygiene status in the district at a workshop in Yumbe town last Wednesday, the District Health Inspector, Mr Collins Angunda, said the costs are estimated from what is believed to have been incurred by the communities and the district health office in the management of the epidemics.
The sporadic outbreak of cholera, meningitis and the recent Hepatitis E adds up to 670 cases registered in the district since 2006 with meningitis topping the list with 448 cases and 23 deaths. This is followed by cholera with 194 cases recorded and 26 deaths.
The recent outbreak of Hepatitis E that has hit the district since March this year has a total of 28 cases recorded to date with four deaths. Mr Angunda said the relatively new district has grappled with a huge disease burden despite the fact that 80 per cent of the diseases that hit the district are preventable.
"There is a low latrine and safe water coverage. This is worsened by inadequate resources and failure to comply with the Kampala Declaration on Sanitation that calls for exemplary leadership," he said.
He said 22 per cent of the leaders do not have latrines.
The assistant Cao, Mr Moses Dalili, said expansion of safe water coverage is a top priority.
Be the first to Write a Comment!
Copyright © 2008 The Monitor. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com). To contact the copyright holder directly for corrections — or for permission to republish or make other authorized use of this material, click here.
AllAfrica aggregates and indexes content from over 125 African news organizations, plus more than 200 other sources, who are responsible for their own reporting and views. Articles and commentaries that identify allAfrica.com as the publisher are produced or commissioned by AllAfrica.
