Maravi

Lusaka DC bemoans cost of burying shallow wells

Lusaka DC bemoans cost of burying shallow wells
Written by Agness Changala
Wednesday, March 25, 2009 3:13:33 PM

LUSAKA District commissioner Christah Kalulu has said it has "To do this proved extremely expensive to bury the shallow wells in cholera-affected areas.
At a press briefing yesterday, Kalulu cited Chawama and Kanyama compounds, saying it needed K1.1 billion to bury the shallow wells in these areas.

effectively, we have embarked on a sensitisation exercise and we are going to tell people not to drink water from shallow wells and we will provide more taps for them," she said.

Kalulu said the committee had started carrying out a door-to-door campaign in cholera-affected areas to educate them on the dangers of drinking water from shallow wells.

Kalulu urged the people in flooded areas in the capital city not to panic.

"Waters are high, yes, but it's not a disaster level," she said. "Even at the clinics we went to this morning before this meeting, the water has seeped down."

Kalulu said the problem of floods would end once the drainage system was improved.

And Kalulu said cholera levels had continued to reduce.

"From March 20, 2009, the total number of 108 patients were under treatment in Lusaka and this is covering Matero, Kalingalinga, Kanyama, Chipata, George, UNZA [University of Zambia], UTH [University Teaching Hospital] and Lusaka Trust Hospital," she said.

Kalulu said 4,073 patients were admitted for cholera at various clinics since it broke out.

"Of those 4,073 admitted, we had 45 deaths and the deaths are unrelated to those who were brought in dead," Kalulu said. "Those who were brought in dead were 42."

Kalulu expressed happiness that the government's interventions had a positive impact on the number of cases that were being recorded.

Kalulu said the country still experienced some rainfall and advised the public to ensure that garbage was disposed of in the right places, observe hygiene practices and report any symptoms of cholera to nearest health centres.

Labels: CHOLERA, CHRISTIAH KALULU, LUSAKA

posted by MrK @ 3:13 PM