OXFAM Tanzania working with local partners is set to provide clean
and safe water along with sanitation facilities to Burundian refugees
both at the border town of Kagunga and those at the Nyarugusu refugee
camp,
The development comes in the wake of yesterday’s announcement by
the Health and Social Welfare Ministry that there are over 500 confirmed
new cases of cholera in camps hosting Burundi refugees in Kigoma
Region.
Oxfam cites that overcrowding, lack of clean water and sanitation
facilities among the Burundian refugees are behind the disease outbreak.
The UN reports that 1,057 cases of acute watery diarrhoea have been
recorded at Kagunga, where refugees wait for boat transportation to
Lake Tanganyika Stadium and Nyarugusu camp.
“Clean water, medical care and proper sanitation are urgently
needed,” Oxfam officials said in a press statement released yesterday.
“Oxfam is working with local partner, TWESA to fix existing tap
stands at Kagunga beach, as well as to build additional latrines to
reduce the risk of disease spreading among the refugee population,”
reads the statement in part.
The British charity Oxfam which works to overcome poverty and
suffering among impoverished communities, is now working to increase
clean water supply and to also build emergency latrines to cope with the
huge numbers of refugees.
So far, approximately 22,000 refugees have been transported from
Kagunga to Nyarugusu camp, where they are being temporarily housed in
schools and churches, as aid agencies source supplies needed to build
appropriate shelter.
“Medical facilities at the camp have been overwhelmed by the number of sick people,” says the Oxfam statement.
As such it urges; “early and rapid response is essential in containing the spread of water-borne diseases such as choleraSOURCE: THE GUARDIAN
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