Save the Children is deeply concerned for the 750, 000 people who have been
affected by an outbreak of diarrhoea in Nepal, 40 per cent of those affected are children.More than 300 people have died, and many more have been affected, since the illness broke out in the
hill districts and western regions of Nepal at the beginning of May, the majority of those affected are from poor and marginalised sections of society. The cause of the outbreak is believed
to be contaminated drinking water coupled with poor personal hygiene and sanitation.Save the Children is concerned that the Nepalese government is failing to address these underlying issues,
which must be tackled in order to stop more people becoming ill. At present the authorities are focussing on distributing medication to people affected by the illness. “There are
still a number of weeks left of the Monsoon rains and it is difficult to predict how the epidemic will evolve, there is a danger it could spread further. It is important that we not only treat the
sick but we also concentrate our efforts on preventing new cases.” said Gunnar Andersen, Save the Children Country Director in Nepal.
In collaboration with the district
public health office, the District Disaster Relief Committee (the focal point for the management and coordination of the emergency responses in the affected districts), and local partners, Save the
Children has been running water and sanitation programmes to try and limit the spread of the outbreak. The goal is to assist 250, 000 people, including 100, 000 children in the five worst affected
districts.
Save the Children have been delivering water purification tablets and oral re-hydration solutions to families affected by the illness and mobilising volunteers to visit
households and educate them about hygienic practices and the importance of drinking clean water.
Media contacts
Please contact Ragnhild Rygg, Save the Children Norway's Information Officer for media interviews, +47 95 48 23 28.
[ Any views expressed in this article are those of the writer and not of Reuters. ]
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