Yet another cholera epidemic

This “disease of dirty-living”, as cholera is often referred to, is a good indicator of the squalor that many citizens live in. Almost every year, cholera takes its toll among the populace as the rainy season abates, mostly in communities where poor hygiene is prevalent.Many cholera cases have been reported in Sokoto, Plateau State, Zamfara […]

This “disease of dirty-living”, as cholera is often referred to, is a good indicator of the squalor that many citizens live in. Almost every year, cholera takes its toll among the populace as the rainy season abates, mostly in communities where poor hygiene is prevalent.
Many cholera cases have been reported in Sokoto, Plateau State, Zamfara State, Lagos states and in many others. Cholera, an infection of the small intestine caused by a bacterium, has as its main symptoms watery diarrhoea and vomiting. The disease is primarily transmitted by drinking contaminated water or eating food that has been contaminated by the faeces of an infected person, including one with no apparent symptoms. The severity of the diarrhoea and vomiting can lead to rapid dehydration and electrolyte imbalance, and to death in severe cases. Every year, cholera kills hundreds of thousands of people worldwide, mostly in countries with filthy living habits.
The Association of Public Health Physicians of Nigeria (APHPN) recently said that cholera can be tackled if adequate attention is given to environmental health. It noted that the deaths resulting from the outbreak were preventable with proper hygiene, as the disease is largely the result of filthy and unhealthy environment, plus unhealthy human behaviour. To avoid further spread, the association said, people should religiously practice hand washing and maintain good food hygiene.
At the federal level, coordinator of the National Centre for Disease Control at the Federal Ministry of Health, Professor Abdulsalam Nasidi, lamented the cholera situation, saying it was very pathetic, and called for urgent clinical intervention and provision of potable drinking water in cities and rural areas. He said the continued occurrence of fresh cholera cases every year remains a source of concern to the federal government and called on states’ ministries of health to emphasise health education in order to avert such ugly recurrence.
Cholera is perhaps also a symbol of bad governance. Clean water is the basic antidote against cholera. Its provision is always promised by politicians at every electioneering campaign, but never delivered when the elections are won. Half a century ago, many municipalities and even rural areas in this country could boast of pipe-borne water. Today, as the nation grew richer, pipe-borne water almost disappeared, giving way boreholes which are shamelessly celebrated. And the ubiquitous water hawker, or mairuwa, with his plastic containers has replaced public pipes.
Closely following the shirking of responsibility by governments in the provision of potable water, the next challenge is public ignorance of basic hygiene. Many people still defecate in open places, sometimes near sources of water. Whenever the streams swell during the rainy season, such infected waste easily gets carried directly to people who use such water for drinking and cooking. Add to that, there is absence of sewage system in many cities, while public toilets, dustbins and incinerators are largely non-existent.
Urban slums take the brunt of cholera epidemics, because most of the inhabitants are simple rural dwellers that have migrated in search of a better life, coming in with their baggage of their way of doing things the rural way. There is also the apparent urban bias of planning in our country, where almost all new water works are targeted towards the cities while the rural areas where such bodies of water originate and pipelines traverse, are left with shallow wells that provide unsafe water for drinking.
For cholera to be eradicated there first has to be clean water. Citizens must ensure their water and food, especially that which is taken raw, such as fruits and vegetables, are clean. Surroundings must also be kept clean. And because public hygiene campaign can never be too much, sanitary inspectors must return. In Brazil, social welfare payments under the Bolsa Familia programme are tied to clean and hygienic homes and environment, while unclean homesteads are fined.
For Africa, and indeed Nigeria, to eradicate cholera, much better attention should be given to provision of clean water and enlightenment on better hygiene.