Why cholera is spreading fast in Migori and Homa Bay counties

Lack of toilets and poor hygiene in most restaurants in Migori and Homa Bay counties have been blamed for increasing cases of cholera that have claimed 17 lives so far.

People relieve themselves in the bush because most homes do not have toilets. When it rains, the waste is swept into River Riena which is the main sources of water for thousands in the two counties.

Migori County Health executive Joel Dondi lamented that most eateries are unhygienic which has contributed to the spread of the disease.

At least 644 cases have been reported in the two counties, most of them in Migori where the waterborne disease started.

Mr Dondi said the county government has allocated Sh5million to fight the disease.

“We will use these funds to recruit more community health workers, purchase cholera vaccines, water facilities and food handling equipment” Dr Dondi told the Nation on Sunday.

Ms Caroline Atieno whose nine-months-old daughter Flavian Auma is admitted to Ndhiwa Sub-County Hospital says her home does not have a toilet.

“I am not happy because my daughter is suffering. She has diarrhoea and anything she eats comes out the next minute,” Ms Atieno said from her hospital bed. Her daughter is weak and pale. She survives on breast milk which she at times vomits.

“Most of my neighbours too do not have toilets,” she says.

SAME STORY

On the next bed is 30-year-old Margret Omoro who hails from Miranga. The story is the same. “We do not have toilets. We are forced to relieve ourselves in the bush. Yet, we do not have another source of water apart from River Riena which we share with animals,” she says.

To John Katembe, 28, the problem is lack of access to clean drinking water. “We have toilets where I live but the problem is lack of clean drinking water,” says the teacher.

John Roche, the Kenya Red Cross Society (KRCS) officer in charge of Homa Bay and Migori counties, says the situation is dire as more patients are still being admitted.

“We are concerned that there is an upsurge in new cases, especially due to contamination of water sources,” Mr Roche said.

“People do not seem to understand what hygiene is all about. May be efforts should be made to educate them before the situation gets out of hand,” he adds.

ENHANCE SANITATION

KRCS has supplied the two counties with promotional materials to enhance sanitation and hygiene practices.

The organisation has also called on the two counties to commit themselves to keep the environment clean and provide clean drinking water.

Ndhiwa County Hospital superintendent Thedduas Ondingo told the Nation that they had discovered that most of the victims live in the same area.

‘While educating residents on hygiene, we realised most homes have no toilets and their main source of water is a polluted River Riena,” he said.

Other than lack of toilets and clean drinking water, there is also poor personal hygiene which has played a major role in the spread of the disease.”

WaterAid, an intervention non-profit making organisation formed in 1981 by the UN to champion for increased access to clean drinking water in the world says, 16 million Kenyans still lack access to safe water. Half the population live below the poverty line and millions lack basic toilets.

By Angela Oketch, Everline Okewo and Maurice Kaluoch