An alert has been issued by the Ministry of Health following an outbreak of cholera in six counties, namely Kiambu, Nairobi, Murang'a, Kajiado, Nakuru, and Uasin Gishu. Cumulatively, there are 61 confirmed cases of cholera in these counties. Acting Director General of Health Patrick Amoth says the outbreak can be traced to a wedding ceremony in Kiambu County from where it spread out.
Consequently, county and sub county health teams are under instruction to watch out for any patients who exhibit signs of cholera by presenting acute watery diarrhoea. According to statistics by the World Health Organisation, cholera claims between 21,000 and 143,000 annually globally yet it is a preventable disease if only high standards of hygiene are observed by all.
Key drivers of cholera include eateries, butcheries, markets and other food sources. Other contributors include mountains of garbage next to residential areas, poor drainage systems and polluted water bodies into which industrial waste, especially within towns and cities, is discharged. It behooves county governments to ensure the most stringent controls that guarantee a clean environment in all food outlets to limit the spread of cholera.
This is doable if only the county governments also play their role by ensuring regular garbage collection and its safe disposal as well as providing clean safe water to residents. Unfortunately, garbage collection and disposal are the Achilles Heel of all county governments. Garbage is allowed to accumulate next to residential houses from where rodents scavenge and transfer germs to people.
During rainy seasons, water from such garbage heaps is washed into rivers from which many residents fetch water for domestic use. Our experience with Covid-19 and health protocols prescribed to contain the pandemic should, by now, have taught us a thing or two about cleanliness as a way of staying safe from germs. Citizens are encouraged to observe high standards of personal hygiene, which is as simple as washing hands, vegetables and fruits before eating them. Keeping diseases at bay is a collective effort, not that of the government alone.
