Cholera: NWSC move to build toilets is timely

What you need to know:

  • The issue: Cholera outbreak
  • Our view: There is need to ensure that deaths caused by cholera are reduced. Above all, government should rollout a vaccination programme of children aged one year and above against cholera.

In the wake of the current cholera outbreak in the outskirts of Kampala City, National Water and Sewerage Corporation (NWSC), is taking a positive step to address the problem.

Last Friday, Mr Silver Mugisha, the corporation’s managing director, said in an effort to check future cholera outbreak in the city, NWSC is embarking on mapping areas in and around Kampala, Wakiso, and Mukono districts with a view of constructing 1,000 stand pipes and 250 public toilets.

The NWSC move comes against the backdrop of poor hygienic practices in parts of the affected areas. Last week, cholera killed one person in Kabowa, a city suburb in Rubaga Division, according the Ministry of Health.

Cholera is a preventable and treatable disease caused by infection of the intestine with the bacterium Vibrio cholera causing diarrhoea, among other ailments. It is usually transmitted through consumption of water or food contaminated with faecal material.

Cholera remains a major public health threat in communities with inadequate sanitation and safe water, the reason NWSC timely intervention to construct stand pipes and public toilets should be much appreciated.

Therefore, current epidemic outbreak offers opportune to all other stakeholders, including NGOs, health-related institutions, communities, families, and individuals to come forward and make a contribution towards eradicating conditions that may give rise to cholera.

Without everybody at all levels making an effort to eliminate cholera, the disease will continue to strike communities with devastating effects. This is why we heed Mr Mugisha’s caution that “You may have piped water and adequate sanitation, but if you eat faeces, you will definitely contract cholera.”

With maximum mobilisation of the population reinforced by statutory enforcement, no one should be expected to die or live in fear of cholera. The challenge, however, seems to be the failure by the relevant authorities to sensitise or mobilise the population about basic sanitation and public health practices.

It is also critical that all health centres should have a stock of cholera treatment medicines in readiness to confront this epidemic. According to the Ugandan National Cholera Task Force, since 1997, there have been a cumulative number of 47,790 cholera cases throughout Uganda, with more than 2,000 deaths.

There is need to ensure that deaths caused by cholera are reduced. Above all, government should rollout a vaccination programme of children aged one year and above against cholera. We should all know that cholera is a preventable disease, so let’s all play our part to check it.