Cholera afflicts Bani Qais locals [Archives:2008/1130/Health]
February 18 2008
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For Yemen Times
Cholera is threatening the lives of citizens in Hajjah governorate's Bani Qais district. Home to 50,000, the district is characterized by destitution. Ten-year-old Younis looked miserable. When asked which grade he was in, he said he didn't go to school. Another local explained that the child had survived death after contracting cholera.
Bani Qais locals say they are being threatened by cholera, with the epidemic having killed 40 area residents since late 2007. Local council member Sheikh Yahya Hafja stated, “This disaster is a tragedy. I appeal to concerned authorities and both local and international organizations to intervene quickly to stem this problem.”
Although Yahya Ghailan, head of the Epidemic Surveillance Department, was on vacation, he agreed to comment on the situation, explaining that the disease first appeared in the district last October, beginning in Mistaba, northern Hajjah and a district on the Yemeni-Saudi border, before moving on to Bani Qais and Khairan districts.
“Three children from the same family – ages 5, 8 and 10 – died of cholera on December 15, 2007,” Ghailan noted, adding that the Bani Qais Health Department has recorded 16 deaths since the disease's appearance in the district.
“The problem still exists, with the most recent death being a female on January 27 of this year,” he added.
The health official further noted that health teams haven't come to the assistance of area residents, despite their calls for help. “Teams from Hajjah city came to offer aid, but then returned without doing anything,” he explained.
The grandfather of the three dead children, Hajji Ali Mohammed Bukhait, has lost hope that local authorities will set up a water project in the area to solve the problem. “I wish the deaths of our three children would be an urgent message to concerned authorities,” he said.
According to the World Health Organization, cholera is an acute diarrheal infection caused by ingesting the Vibrio cholerae bacterium. Transmission occurs through direct fecal-oral contamination or through ingesting contaminated food or water. In its severest form, the disease is characterized by a sudden onset of acute watery diarrhea, which can lead to death due to severe dehydration and kidney failure.
Cholera is an extremely virulent disease affecting both children and adults. Unlike other diarrheal diseases, it can kill healthy adults within hours. Individuals with lower immunity, such as malnourished children or those with HIV, are at greater risk of death if they contract cholera.
A Bani Qais health worker requesting anonymity said 40 deaths have been observed due to cholera, with the main reason being water contamination, adding that Health Department records are inaccurate because several deaths have occurred at home.
However, health worker Ali Ahmed denies the existence of the disease, maintaining that talking about it will affect tourism in that area.
Mohammed Al-Bahrawi, an Egyptian health worker at a private health facility, remarked that his facility has no means to examine or treat cholera to examine cholera at his health facility, further explaining that local cholera patients are sent to either Hajjah city or Sana'a.
Bani Qais resident Ahmed Al-Murji asserted that the Yemeni government lies to local citizens because a water project established in the area in 1990 hasn't worked. “Government officials have inaugurated the project more than three times, with one local council member simply bringing a water tanker to indicate that the project is ready,” he recounted, noting that cholera isn't a recent epidemic, as his forefathers knew of it 85 years ago.
Known as “the father of teachers and the poor,” local teacher Ali Murshed enjoys a good reputation in the area. During a short car ride through the district, he remarked that the district's health conditions are insufficient.
“Area health facilities are neglectful in terms of performance and tasks and there are no medical laboratories. Poverty, illiteracy and disease have gone hand-in-hand and invaded our area. School dropouts also exist due to disease, namely malaria, which is the number one killer in this area,” he noted.
Mohammed Al-Sayyed, another Bani Qais resident, believes water contamination is the main reason for the disease, as the district's market is polluted with animal dung, slaughtered animal remains and rotten fish.
“Above all, illiteracy is extremely high, so citizens are unaware of this disaster,” he added.
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