Tue 13 September 2022:
The United Nations representative in the nation stated that a cholera outbreak in numerous areas of Syria poses “a serious threat to people in Syria and the region”, and urged an immediate response to curb its spread, Reuters reported.
According to the U.N., the outbreak is thought to be related to people drinking unclean water from the Euphrates River, which flows through Syria from the north to the east, and people watering crops with contaminated water. Imran Riza, the resident and humanitarian coordinator, issued a statement.
A large portion of the Syrian population is dependent on contaminated water sources as a result of the massive destruction of the country’s water infrastructure after more than ten years of conflict.
Richard Brennan, Regional Emergency Director of the World Health Organization (WHO) Eastern Mediterranean Region, said the agency had recorded eight deaths from the disease since Aug. 25: six in Aleppo in the north and two in Deir al-Zor in the east.
“This is the first confirmed cholera outbreak in recent years… the geographic spread gives cause for concern and so we have to move fast,” he told Reuters via phone.
The outbreak is centred in the northern Aleppo region, where more than 70% of a total 936 suspected cases have been recorded, and Deir al-Zor where more than 20% were registered.
A smaller number of suspected cases have been recorded in Raqqa, al-Hasaka, Hama and Lattakia.
The number of confirmed cholera cases is 20 in Aleppo, four in Lattakia and two in Damascus.
Brennan said the WHO was appealing to donors to increase funding as the organisation was already dealing with a number of cholera outbreaks in the region, including in Pakistan where floods have exacerbated a pre-existing outbreak.
“We need to scale up surveillance and testing capacity… efforts are underway to truck clean water to the communities most affected,” he said.
According to the World Health Organization, the region has seen an increase in ailments like diarrhea, malnutrition, and skin conditions prior to the recent cholera outbreak because of the water crisis.
SOURCE: INDEPENDENT PRESS AND NEWS AGENCIES
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
FOLLOW INDEPENDENT PRESS:
TWITTER (CLICK HERE)
https://twitter.com/IpIndependent
FACEBOOK (CLICK HERE)
https://web.facebook.com/ipindependent
Think your friends would be interested? Share this story!
