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Cholera in PNG still spreading
Tuesday, 22 December, 2009
Government inaction is contributing to the spread of cholera in Papua New Guinea (PNG), health workers say in a report by IRIN the United Nations humanitarian news and analysis agency.
Since the first case reports in July, more than 1,000 have been reported in the Pacific island nation, fuelled largely by poor sanitation practices and an acute lack of access to potable water.
Of the 1,356 cases to date, 608 have occurred in the provinces of Madang, 462 in Morabe, 281 in East Sepik and five in the Eastern Highlands Province, reported the World Health Organization (WHO), with at least 35 confirmed deaths.
In September the government declared a public health emergency and committed more than US$4 million to combating the disease - none of which has been released, leaving local health authorities and NGOs struggling to cope. Since the first case in Morabe and a subsequent outbreak in Lae, the provincial capital, the disease has travelled westward by road along the coastline, with outbreaks now in both Madang and East Sepik provinces, as well as the country’s Eastern Highlands.
Added to that is its movement now by water down the Sepik River – PNG’s second-largest and a primary source of water for both drinking and washing. And with the Christmas season fast approaching, as thousands prepare to return home, mainly by air as many villages are inaccessible by road, the disease could likely become airborne if it has not already.
