Abwaan Posted March 21, 2007 Diarrhoea kills 100s in Somalia 20/03/2007 22:13 - (SA) Nairobi - Acute watery diarrhoea in Somalia has killed hundreds of people this year, the minister of health said on Tuesday as aid agencies warned the nation was in the midst of a cholera outbreak. "The death toll is in the hundreds (but) we don't believe there is cholera in the country," said health minister Qamar Adan. The World Health Organisation said in a report this week acute watery diarrhoea has killed 251 people and had infected 5 602 since January. Aid agencies say there is an epidemic of cholera - a bacterial disease spread mainly through contaminated water - in the Horn of Africa nation. Late last year, the worst flooding in decades ravaged Somalia. "There has been a continued increase in cholera cases reported in and around Mogadishu. Over two hundred cases have been reported by one hospital," said David Gilmour, Somalia country director for aid agency CARE International. "More worryingly, until there is unrestricted humanitarian access across Somalia it is difficult to know the true scale of this and other problems which are going unreported," he said. Insecurity after a war between Islamists and government troops backed by Ethiopian armour has made humanitarian missions all but impossible - never the easiest work in a nation in anarchy since a 1991 coup ended central rule. Floods, insecurity and war-damaged infrastructure combine to raise the risk of cholera in Africa. The disease has infected at least 12 000 people already in 2007, mainly in a belt spreading from Angola to Congo. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Abwaan Posted March 21, 2007 I have only heard them (Transitional Federal Warlords)once talking about this to the outside world. They seem to be busy with asking millions for a conference that they only talk about happening, which is far from the reallity. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
