Interview: « Our Hospitals Are Overwhelmed, But The Situation Is Under Control »

What is the health situation in the South West Region?
Currently, we are experiencing a surge in cholera cases in some parts of the South West Region in articular Limbe, Tiko, Buea, Kumba, Bakassi and Ekondo Titi. A total of 44 persons have died of cholera since it started in October 2021. Over the last 48 hours we have had surge in cases in Limbe. People are defecating in open air in Down Beach, upstream in Ndongo in Buea and the same water that they defecated inside is being use to wash dresses, cook food and drink downstream in places like Mile 14, Mutengene and Likomba in Tiko.

And that is stretch where we have the cholera. We have treatment centres in Limbe District Hospital, Limbe Regional Hospital, Tiko District Hospital, Integrated Health Centre Bolifamba, Buea Regional Hospital, Muyuka District Hospital and Kumba District Hospital supported by the Presbyterian and Baptist Health service. Our hospitals are overwhelmed with a lot of cases but the situation is under control.

What exactly accounts for this surge?
The first cause is an acute shortage of water in the communities that are affected and the second is the appalling hygiene condition. In Duck Yard in Limbe, Down Beach, Mile 4 Limbe, Likomba in Tiko, Quarters 7 and 8 in Mutegene, Quarters 5, 6 and 7 in Bolifamba, Bomaka and Ibo quarter in Kumba all have the same story to tell. They don’t have water and if they have water it is contaminated. They don’t have toilets. They have appalling living conditions and these are propagating the spread of cholera. One in five cases of cholera which we have is a child below five years. This means that the cholera infection is very close to the ground.

There is a strong feeling that mangoes is contributing tremendously to the spread of this cholera. Imagine that a three-year-old child picks up mangoes from the ground and eat without washing them. They will eat it and pick the cholera. Now they will take the cholera to school. We are expecting to have cholera outbreak in schools unless appropriate measures are taken. So, the surge is a combination of three things: acute shortage of drinkable water, appalling living conditions and absent of toilets.

In the face of this cholera outb...