Sep. 27 (EUROPA PRESS) –
The non-governmental organization World Vision has warned this Tuesday that the cholera outbreak decreed in Syria endangers the lives of hundreds of thousands of children and has highlighted that the damage suffered by the pipeline networks due to the war and the deepening of the economic crisis prevent the population from having access to clean water suitable for consumption.
The NGO has indicated in a statement that this disease is spreading in the country “at an alarming rate” and has estimated the number of cases to date at more than 2,500, including 611 children under five years of age. In this sense, he warned that “a dramatic increase in mortality is imminent in the coming weeks.”
“The reality is that the increase in cholera cases affects internally displaced people more, since only 22 percent of people living in informal settlements have access to sufficient water in the area most affected by cholera so far” , has detailed World Vision’s response director in Syria, Johan Mooij.
“According to the latest assessments in north-east Syria, almost all IDPs, 95 per cent, and communities, 90 per cent, cannot afford treatment, even when public toilet facilities are available. The urgency of the situation could not be more serious,” he explained.
Thus, he stressed that “with a decimated health system, the lives of these children are in danger since medical treatment and the capacities to respond to the current outbreak are scarce” and added that “there are 800,000 children in risk of hunger across the country who are undernourished, and 15% of those living in the hardest-hit areas of the Northwest are severely undernourished.
“The time has come for donors and governments to put Syria back on their list of priorities and allocate resources to an adequate and fully trained response,” he defended. “The time to act is now, because without access to clean water, more people will get sick and the loss of life will increase,” Mooij said.
“World Vision has been delivering emergency water and sanitation supplies to displaced and host communities in Syria since 2013, providing water disinfection materials and health medicines. But it is not enough. We call on all donors to that they expedite the support with additional funds for water disinfection materials, sanitary medicines and equipment for the treatment of cholera”, he settled.
The Syrian authorities indicated on Sunday in their latest balance that to date about 340 cases of cholera have been confirmed, with 30 deaths. The Syrian Minister of Health, Hassan al Ghabash, stated on September 18 that the government had the outbreak under control, at a time when seven deaths had been reported and after the United Nations had expressed its alarm over the spread of the disease. .
The UN humanitarian coordinator for Syria, Imran Riza, had expressed his “great concern” about the cholera outbreak and stressed that it is a sign of the scarcity of water in the country due to a decrease in those of the Euphrates River, the drought-like conditions in some areas and the destruction of infrastructure due to the conflict that broke out in 2011. Finally, he warned that the outbreak poses “a serious threat” to the Syrian population and the region and asked donor countries urgent funding to contain the outbreak and prevent its spread, as well as “sustained and unrestricted” access to affected communities.
Cholera is an acute diarrheal disease caused by the ingestion of food or water contaminated with the Vibrio cholerae bacillus, according to the World Health Organization (WHO) on its website, where it highlights that “cholera continues to be a global threat to public health and an indicator of inequity and lack of social development”.
