Action vital to curb Hepatitis E outbreak - IRC

Comprehensive and long-term services aimed at increased latrine coverage and better sanitation practices are needed to fend off Hepatitis E in northern Uganda, according to a report by the International Rescue Committee. More than 7,000 people have been infected and at least 110 have died from the virus since the beginning of an outbreak in October 2007 in the former war-torn region.

“In Kitgum, we have a situation where thousands of displaced people are returning to villages that lack sufficient sanitation, clean drinking water, and basic healthcare services. Under these circumstances, it’s hard for people to maintain good hygiene and prevent problems like Hepatitis E,” said Shaun O’Donnell, the IRC-Uganda country director.

Hepatitis E, for which there is no cure, is usually spread through poor sanitation. Health clinics can only try to offer people temporary relief through rehydration and other palliative methods, while trying to spread information about good hygiene. In addition, the Uganda Red Cross is distributing chlorination tablets at boreholes.

In some areas of Northern Uganda, more than 100 people share one latrine usually recommended for 20 people. Furthermore, as violence and insecurity have decreased in the region, many people have left internally displaced persons (IDP) camps and returned to ancestral villages where there are few sources of clean water or resources for maintaining proper sanitation.

At the height of the conflict with the Lord’s Resistance Army, almost 1.8 million people were displaced. There are various estimates about how many people have left IDP camps, but most agree that at least 30 to 40 percent of people are returning home.

Hepatitis E is not often deadly – with mortality rates of 1-4 percent, according to the World Health Organization – but has much higher rates of mortality among pregnant women, who are especially susceptible to the disease.

The original outbreak last year was confined to one sub-district in Kitgum district but has now spread to 17 out of 19 sub-counties in Kitgum, as well as Gulu, Pader and Yumbe districts.

The Ugandan Ministry of Health committed 10 billion shillings (US$6 million) to try to combat the spread of Hepatitis E in August, but aid workers in Northern Uganda say the funding has not yet reached them.

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