Uganda prepares for cholera outbreak ahead of rainy season
With the rainy season just around the corner, the ministry of Health has embarked on prevention mechanisms to control the outbreak of diseases that have cost the country millions of shillings in the past.
Under scrutiny are the four major hotspots which annually experience cholera outbreaks during rainy seasons.
Keep Reading
The ministry is considering the introduction of the oral cholera vaccine according to Dr Godfrey Bwire who is the programme officer for prevention of diseases such as diarrhoea and cholera.
“This will be given to people suspected to have gotten cholera. We hope to have this vaccine out between March and April before the rainy season," Bwire said.
But according to the Dr Bernard Opar, the Programs Manager Uganda National Expanded Program on Immunisation (UNEPI), emphasis should be put on hygiene rather than vaccination.
"Oral cholera vaccination should only be used to augment hand washing and toilet use," he said.
Emphasis shall be put on the four major cholera hotspots of Hoima, Buliisa, Packwach and Nebbi
It is estimated estimated that an average of about 11,000 cholera cases occur in Uganda each year, leading to 61-182 deaths.
