Zanzibar redoubles efforts to combat cholera

Cholera outbreaks in Tanzania's semi-autonomous island of Zanzibar have continued due to poor hygiene standards, health officials said on Wednesday, while announcing renewed efforts to raise public awareness.

"We need to double our efforts of awareness; we also need to strengthen by-laws to make sure that the islands are kept clean," Dr Omar Suleiman, an officer in the Ministry of Health, said in Stone Town, capital of Zanzibar.

Following recent outbreaks in Jambiani village, 35km south of Stone Town, where at least 10 people have been hospitalised and one died, health officials said cholera remained a problem, attributing the continued outbreaks to unhygienic living conditions and improper or lack of use of toilets.

"People prefer relieving themselves in the bush and on the beaches - this has been a major source of cholera in rural areas," Suleiman said. "In urban areas, the environment is dirty, and both untreated solid and liquid waste is not controlled."

Health Minister Sultan Mohamed Mugheiry said keeping clean was the "only weapon" to stop cholera. "I call upon all Zanzibaris to campaign for the use of toilets and to keep the environment clean," he added.

The African Development Bank is funding a sensitisation project, which involves the construction of at least 100 public toilets and teaching residents how to use them.

"In continued efforts to combat cholera, we have started educating people on the importance of toilets and how to use them and we plan to educate people in about 575 villages," Khalfan Bakar, a coordinator of the project, said. "We aim to change the people's habits of not using toilets; promote safe drinking water and keep the environment clean."

The sensitisation project has also started in Pemba, the other island, which together with Unguja, form Zanzibar.

In 2006, cholera killed at least 50 people in Unguja and Pemba islands. Zanzibar, with a population of one million, has been repeatedly hit by cholera epidemics since 1998.

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