Tuesday, March 13, 2007
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Mogadishu, Somalia (AP) - At least 42 people, mainly children, have died in the last 24 hours from a suspected cholera outbreak in southern Somalia, doctors said on Tuesday.More than 240 others have been hospitalised, and doctors fear more deaths because of the lack of proper medical facilities or medicines in the war-ravaged country.
"The children are dying from the disease because of a lack of access to proper medical centres," said Doctor Ahmed Nour Afey, who works at a provincial hospital in Marka town in Lower Shabelle region, about 90km south of the capital, Mogadishu. "Most of them die on their way to hospitals at the main towns in the region."
Somalia has some of the world's worst health indicators. Life expectancy at birth is 46 years, and a quarter of children die before they reach five.
This latest outbreak has occurred in three southern regions of Somalia -Banadir, Gedo and Lower Shabelle. The first cases were reported in December in four central regions of the country but has now spread, doctors said.
Cholera is transmitted through contaminated water and is linked to poor hygiene, overcrowding and bad sanitation.
Symptoms include diarrhoea and vomiting, and it can kill in less than five hours if it remains untreated.
Source: AP, Mar 13, 2007