South Sudanese officials warned Monday that citizens are not well enough informed about the country’s cholera situation as the Health Ministry still refuses to declare an outbreak.
Health officials said today there are now over 100 suspected cases and seven deaths as citizens are largely unaware of the presence of cholera in the city. Yesterday Radio Tamazuj reported there were 10 confirmed cholera cases as of 18 June, enough to declare an outbreak according to World Health Organization guidelines.
The officials said citizens do not know how to protect themselves and are unaware that cholera is in Juba.
One person close to the cholera response said at least one person arrived at health facilities too late to receive lifesaving treatment, adding that in previous outbreaks people arrived more quickly and were successfully treated because they knew of the cholera situation.
That person said family members at the hospital now are not taking precautions to protect themselves from the disease since the don’t know about any outbreak.
Declaring an outbreak results in dissemination of public information through media and mobilization of community outreach workers to educate citizens about cholera and how to prevent its spread. Cholera can kill within hours if left untreated, but it is easily curable if treated quickly in a health facility.
Officials said the suspected cases are coming from New Site, Manga 10, Gumbo, Munuki, Gudele, the displaced persons camp in UN House by Jebel, and other neighborhoods. They said they feared the disease could soon spread to Yei and Kajo Keji counties in Central Equatoria before reaching other states.
Last year, a cholera outbreak that began in Juba spread to 16 counties in five states, killing 167 people, according to WHO.
Another person close to the country’s cholera response said it will be a “failure” if the number of cholera deaths and cases is more than last year because it would mean all the efforts done by the health ministry and other organizations in 2015 did not improve the situation.
The delay in declaring an outbreak is reportedly due to Ministry of Health officials ignoring results of cholera tests done in Juba and sending them to a lab in Kenya instead. A lab was recently opened in Juba so response time would not be wasted sending samples abroad, as occurred last year.
But this year the results will take even longer than last year because first they were tested in Juba, which takes 72 hours, then sent to Nairobi for another 72-hour test.
It is not clear when the results were sent to Kenya, or if they have already been received by the Ministry of Health in Juba in recent days.
The Ministry of Health said it will hold a press conference on the cholera situation tomorrow morning.
Related:
Factbox: Tips to protect yourself from cholera (22 Jun.)
Ministry of Health covering up cholera outbreak in Juba (21 Jun.)