Reported cholera outbreak downplayed

The World Health Organisation (WHO) and Afghan Ministry of Public Health have downplayed reports of a possible cholera outbreak - a waterborne infectious disease - in Afghanistan’s capital, Kabul. “We don’t have a cholera outbreak, but we have an outbreak of diarrhoeal diseases,” spokeswoman for WHO, Loretta Hieber Girardet, told IRIN from Kabul on Monday. WHO reported on Sunday that up to 6,000 people suffering from dehydration had been admitted to hospitals in the city, while three people had died from a severe lack of fluids. Cholera, which causes severe dehydration, spreads extremely rapidly among large populations, if preventive measures are not implemented quickly. Her comments follow media reports saying authorities and aid agencies were taking urgent measures to prevent a cholera epidemic in the capital after three people were diagnosed. Further downplaying the significance of the outbreak, Khwaja Mir Azam Mehraban, Afghanistan’s Deputy Minister for Public Health maintained, that a surge in diarrhoeal diseases was normal in the dry hot Afghan summers. “Only three cases of cholera does not indicate that there is an outbreak,” he said. Afghanistan has severe health and sanitation problems. Diarrhoea alone kills an estimated 85,000 children every year. In Kabul the situation is further compounded by the rapid return of hundreds of thousands of refugees, who have strained an already fragile civic infrastructure. To further prevent the epidemic from spreading, public health officials are to intensify the chlorification - purifying drinking water by adding chlorine - of water wells. WHO, in collaboration with the health authorities, is to launch a hygiene awareness campaign as well. The ministry of public health has 2,500 employees serving up to two million people, but it lacks vital supplies of medicines and equipment. Additionally the staff needs more training. Medical coordinator with Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), Stephan Robin, also told IRIN that there was no cholera epidemic, but said they have to be very cautious and follow the situation. “The situation is not good at all and a lot of work needs to be done,” he said. Proposing a short term solution, he said that in addition to a mass media information campaign, health officials had to be trained to deal with the crisis provided with more logistical aid. “In the long term a better sanitation and drinking water infrastructure has to be built,” he maintained.