Disease threat in Kenya as floods continue

NAIROBI - Kenya could be staring at a health crisis as raging floods that have wreaked havoc in many parts of the country threaten to unleash a wave of communicable diseases like cholera, typhoid, malaria and influenza.

The Ministry of Health and relief agencies have sounded alarm over possible outbreaks in low lying parts of the country and major cities grappling with the aftermath of heavy rains.

So far, the ministry has directed county governments to allocate funds toward reducing the threat of waterborne diseases.

In its latest briefing, the Kenya Red Cross revealed that 112 people had died as a result of floods since mid-March, when the rains began.

Abbas Gullet, the Secretary-General at the Kenya Red Cross, said at a media briefing on Friday that an estimated 260,000 people displaced by floods were at risk of disease.

"We are monitoring the situation in the camps for people displaced by floods to ward off outbreaks. Our volunteers have been providing purification gadgets in flooded regions to keep water-borne diseases at bay," said Gullet.

The Kenya Red Cross has already made a $5 million appeal for local and international aid to help provide emergency assistance to 150,000 flood victims in the western, northeastern and coastal regions.

Gullet said the bulk of the money will be earmarked for food, clean drinking water and medical kits to families marooned by floods in low-lying plains.

"Our immediate areas of intervention include supply of water treatment chemicals to prevent a cholera outbreak in flooded regions," said Gullet, adding that people will also be supplied with mosquito nets to minimize the risk of contracting malaria.

Kenya and its neighbors in the greater eastern African region such as Rwanda and Somalia have been experiencing extreme rainfall accompanied by flash floods, which have left many people dead and destroyed transport, power and communications infrastructure as well as hospitals and schools.

In Kenya, both the central government and relief agencies have scaled up emergency interventions in regions affected by flooding to prevent a humanitarian crisis.

Local media reports indicate that counties in the west and the coastal region have sought additional financial support from central government and relief agencies to procure essential drugs and promote environmental hygiene in the wake of heavy flooding.

Xinhua