Sitrep: Wajir Emergency 28/05 –10/06/2001 - PFEDA / Page d ...

Sitrep: Wajir Emergency 28/05 –10/06/2001
Save the Children Situation Report:
outbreak is far from over. Three deaths have been reported from the
bullas around town and recently 1 death was reported from right in the
town centre. All those who died had diarrhoea and vomiting (D&V)
suggestive of cholera.
The UNICEF Somalia team has greatly assisted the Ministry of Health
especially in the field activities, which include social mobilisation using
a Cholera video show translated into Somali language inside Wajir
town and in some villages to the west.
A training of 200 selected Community leaders from Wajir town and its
vicinity on social mobilisation for cholera control is on going. The
training is organised by the MoH public health office and sponsered by
SC/UNICEF. There are 4 training sessions of 2 days, each for a group
of 50 participants. The first two groups from Bulla Wagberi, Halane,
Jogoo, Got-ade and Makoror have completed their training and are
actively organising themselves to combat the cholera by conducting
general cleanness and health talks in their communities.
The District Cholera Co-ordinating Team meets every other day to
discuss and review the epidemiological data generated by the
surveillance team and reports from the CTC. The efficiency of the
team however is greatly affected by the laxity and apathy exhibited by
the District Public Health Officer. Mr. Fankey who should be the head
of the surveillance team does very little in support of the decisions by
the co-ordinating team.
Suggestions by the Provincial Medical Officer (North Eastern
Province) to try and use slow release chlorinating methods for the
wells around Wajir was termed as ‘foreign ideology’ by the above
Officer and thus was never tried at all. The advice given by any
organisation represented (UNICEF, SC(UK), MoH members) at the coordinating
committee is totally ignored. The departure of Dr. Mukhtar
(the DMO) for a meeting in Garissa where he decided to take a leave
until July has left the MoH with very poor leadership and dominated by
a controversial person very much unwilling to co-operate.
The ineffectiveness of the surveillance team due to poor leadership is
a major contributing factor to the slow rate at which this cholera
menace is being contained.
A total of 24 ORS Centres have been established around the bullas of
Wajir. The UNICEF Somalia teams who assisted in the establishment
of the ORS Centres have met a lot of resistance from the surveillance
team in the process. On the other hand, the communities at the
various bullas are very receptive to the team and social mobilisation is
progressing very well with community support.
There is still no proper mechanism of reporting deaths at the bullas,
due to a lack of regular reporting from the surveillance teams.
Unverified information received indicates that the death toll is much
higher than the deaths recorded in the CTC. The matter has been
raised at the Co-ordinating meeting by SC (UK). Consequently the
surveillance team leader has been changed and the CO from Garissa
has been tasked with the responsibility of leading the surveillance
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