Cholera deaths rise to 83 as UN appeals for $104,000

The United Nations has appealed for US $104,000 to help combat a spiralling outbreak of cholera, which Guinea Bissau’s government estimates has killed more than 80 people. In a bulletin issued late Monday, the health ministry said that another 19 people had died from the waterborne disease in the last week, bringing the total number of fatalities since the outbreak began in mid-June to 83. The ministry said there were now 5,330 cholera cases in the small West African country, up by 1,000 from a week ago. “It’s really exploded and the rainy season is aggravating the problem,” Michel Balima, the UN resident co-ordinator, told IRIN by phone from the capital, Bissau, on Tuesday. “We are seeing on average about 100 cases admitted into hospitals each day.” Cholera can quickly cause severe dehydration leading to death although a simple mix of water, sugar and salts is enough to save many. The UN wants donors to stump up $104,000 to help buy life-saving medical supplies to stop the disease in its tracks. “Guinea-Bissau needs the international community’s help just to pay state salaries every month so it really doesn’t have the resources to fight an epidemic on this scale,” Balima said. The capital Bissau -- a city of 300,000 built on low-lying land on the banks of a muddy river estuary -- has borne the brunt of the epidemic, with 29 deaths and about 80 percent of the cases. But cholera has also spread to seven of Guinea-Bissau’s nine regions, and some health officials are calling for a change in tactics. “I think we need to change our strategy in terms of fighting this disease,” said Samba Tenem Barri, head of the cholera unit at the capital’s main hospital, Simao Mendes. ”We shouldn’t be waiting for the cases to come here to the hospital. We should get out there.”