Main hospital overwhelmed by cholera patients, Health Minister says

Liberia's only major referral hospital, the John F. Kennedy Medical Center in the capital, Monrovia, can no longer contain the influx of cholera patients, most of whom are internally displaced persons, the acting Minister of Health Nathaniel Bartee said on Wednesday. At least five cases are being reported daily at the hospital, the Minister told IRIN in Monrovia. At the Samuel Doe stadium where 10,000 displaced people are sheltering in open air, at least 10 cases are reported weekly, since rebels threatened to overrun Monrovia mid-last month. The rebel threat displaced at least 100,000 people who had been living in camps on Monrovia's outskirts, into the city centre. Aid workers said there were continuing reports of outbreaks in most shelters for the displaced around the capital and in densely populated suburbs such as Clara town which has a population of 52,000. "All hospitals are overwhelmed. Medical relief agencies are trying to set up additional facilities to cope with additional patients," Francis Matsanga, Humanitarian Affairs Officer of the UN Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said. MSF-Belgium was opening two treatment units to cater for 250 patients in Central Monrovia. Another relief agency, MERLIN, was constructing two cholera units at Greystone near the city centre. Both agencies were trying to fly in more staff to cope with the situation. The Minister said the government would shortly launch a mass chlorination of water wells in Monrovia, in collaboration with local and international aid agencies which had provided 650 kilograms of chlorine. "There are always high cases of cholera during the months of July and August, which is the peak of the rainy season. But this time, there are more because of unsafe-drinking water and contaminated food," Bartee told IRIN in Monrovia. Meanwhile the Liberian government said it has permitted the US military assessment team currently in the country to have access to all parts of the country including hospitals, clinics and camps for the displaced in government controlled areas. Liberia's defense minister Daniel Chea told reporters on Tuesday "we see this as an opportunity for the first time for America's involvement in this crisis. One opportunity that we should not miss". Washington sent the assessment to Monrovia on Sunday. On Monday it was blocked by Liberian government troops from visiting a camp for the displaced. Later they were allowed to proceed. The findings of the team will help to determine how the US responds to requests to send peacekeeping troops to Liberia. On Wednesday however, President George Bush repeated his demand that President Charles Taylor should leave Liberia. Taylor has said he is willing to go into exile in Nigeria, but not said when exactly he will leave, arguing that he fears to leave a vacuum that lead to further chaos in the war-ravaged West African country. The BBC reported on Wednesday that the first contingent of 1,000 West African peacekeepers were due to deployed in Liberia within two weeks. It quoted the Executive Secretary of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), Mohamed Ibn Chambas, as saying that the US would send military planners to Ghana for discussions later this week. ECOWAS estimates the cost of deploying the force and keeping it in place for the first six months at US $100 million.