Cholera outbreak in Abidjan is prompting UNICEF to respond quicklyAbidjan, Côte d’Ivoire, 07 June 2011 – Following the confirmation of at least ten cases of cholera in the Koumassi district of Abidjan, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has provided medical supplies to local health authorities to treat up to 1,000 patients infected with the disease and kits with soap, chlorine, and water treatment products for 400,000 persons. In order to reduce the risk of widespread cholera epidemic, UNICEF together with governmental and international partners are mobilized since several weeks to ensure access to clean water to an estimated 250,000 people across the country where the distribution network is disrupted, but the response has yet to cover all the needs. “In the midst of the rainy season the resurgence of cholera requires concerted nationwide as well as local actions to restore urgently access to portable water across the country to avoid epidemics of which women and children would be the first victims,” said Hervé Ludovic de Lys, UNICEF Representative in Côte d’Ivoire. In Daloa where normal water distribution has been interrupted for more than a week, 15 water bladders are being installed to give enough water to 100,000 persons daily. In Bouaflé, four bladders are also installed to provide water to 6,000 persons. These installations provide temporary relief while the water distribution company (SODECI) is doing repair on the water supply network in these two cities. The West is affected by a humanitarian crisis and communities are hosting large number of internally displaced people (IDP) and local capacities to provide water are exceeded. For the past weeks UNICEF and partners have provided enough water for 2,000 IDPs daily in the Danané II site and for 5,000 IDPs in Duékoué to supplement the water network and reduce the risk of propagation of diseases. In addition to provide water, UNICEF is promoting good hygiene practices, distributing supplies to treat cholera and water purification tablets for 240,000 people and has launched a public Cholera is a disease transmitted by tainted water and unclean hands causing acute diarrhea and can be lethal if not treated within the first few hours.
For further information, please contact: Louis Vigneault-Dubois, Head of Communication, UNICEF Côte d’Ivoire
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