Ugandans cautioned on hygiene during rainy season

Mar 02, 2018

Waterborne illnesses are caused by recreational or drinking water contaminated by disease-causing microbes or pathogens.

(L-R) Vice President African Fertility Society James Olobo-Lalobo and state minister of health for general duties, Sarah Opendi interacting at a press briefing at Uganda Media Center in Kampala, February 27, 2018.Photo by Maria Wamala

Ugandans have been advised to observe the highest standards of hygiene during this rainy season to avoid falling prey of water borne diseases which are very common during the rainy season.


The call was made by the state minister of health for general duties, Sarah Opendi who pointed out that water-borne diseases such as typhoid fever, cholera, diarrhoea, Hepatitis A are very common during rainy season, and therefore Ugandans should observe high levels of hygiene.

"Water-borne diseases are very common during rainy season, ensure to drink boiled water, wash your hands before eating and after visiting the toilet and your surroundings should be clean all the time," she said.

Opendi who is also the Tororo Woman MP, said such diseases are very common among populations with very low latrine coverage, and people that drink water which is contaminated by animal and human faeces.

Waterborne illnesses are caused by recreational or drinking water contaminated by disease-causing microbes or pathogens.

Signs and symptoms of water-borne diseases include, dry mouth, blurred and/or double vision, difficulty swallowing, muscle weakness, difficulty breathing, slurred speech, vomiting and sometimes, diarrhoea. Death is usually caused by respiratory failure.

Although the overall toilet coverage in the country has increased, recent national population and housing census figures released by the Uganda Bureau of Statistics (UBOS), show that 8% of the population stays in households with no toilet facilities.

"Overall eight per cent of households did not have a toilet facility," the report states. This (8%) represents 2.7m Ugandans out of the 34.6m people in the country.

Opendi was responding to a question asked by a journalist during a press conference in Kampala recently about the outbreak of cholera in Kyangwali refugee settlement camp and Kyaka II refugee settlement camp, both in Western Uganda.

The minister confirmed that 26 refugees from both camps had died as a result of cholera, adding that they could have got the disease along the way as they entered into the camps, because the deceased were new refugees.

However, she said the ministry together with the other partners had contained the situation, and there were no new cases of cholera, while those who were still suspected to have the disease, were under surveillance

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