Bernard Masereka
20 November 2009
Kampala — CHOLERA has broken out in Kasese district with two cases reported in Hamukungu fishing village in Lake Katwe sub-county on Tuesday.
The district health officer, Dr. Peter Mukobi, sounded the alarm while addressing residents of Hamukungu during a sanitation campaign organised by the district and the Uganda Red Cross Society.
Mukobi said 584 cases with 10 deaths have been registered in the district since the beginning of the year. He added that most of the cases were from the sub-counties neighbouring the Democratic Republic of Congo.
During the campaign, the secretary for health and social services, Rehema Muhindo, called for by-laws that would better hygiene and sanitation. She warned people living at the shores to stop drinking lake water without boiling it.
Red Cross donated soap, drugs and Water guard tablets used in purifying water to the residents of Hamukungu.
Following the lack of supplies to treat the disease, a doctor at Kagando Hospital said the hospital was charging fees on cholera patients.
Dr. Herbert Bumbi said each cholera patient had to pay sh100,000 upon discharge.
Previously, the Government used to provide the supplies to treat cholera patients and pay the allowances for medics attending to them.
Some leaders were against the fee, saying it was too high and that it would cause more deaths as people would fear to go to hospital.
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