TITLE:
Stocking Cholera Prevention Measures among Health Providers and Communities at Kakuma Refugee Camp, Turkana County, Kenya: A Desk Review
AUTHORS:
Zaddock Ogayo Oguta, Dominic Mogere, Peter Wanderi, Phelista Njeru
KEYWORDS:
Cholera, Refugees, Sanitation and Hygiene, Limited Resources
JOURNAL NAME:
Open Journal of Preventive Medicine,
Vol.14 No.12,
December
31,
2024
ABSTRACT: Adequate sanitation, good hygiene, and safe water are fundamental to good health and socio-economic development. There is a close relationship between economic empowerment, livelihood factors and societal hygiene. World Health Organization (WHO) reported that each year there are 1.3 to 4.0 million cases of cholera, with deaths between 21000 to 143000. Cholera transmission is closely linked to inadequate access to clean water and sanitation facilities. Typical at-risk areas include peri-urban slums and camps for displaced persons or refugees. In April 2000, a large outbreak of cholera due to Vibrio cholera serotype Ogawa affected the Island of Pohnpei in the Federated States of Micronesia. In Malawi, there were many cholera deaths among refugees, with a case fatality rate of 3.5%, 68% of which mostly occurred within 24 hours of hospital admission. About 10% of the Kenyan population (4.89 million) is living in the 30-combination high-priority sub-counties according to Kenya’s new 2022-2030 Cholera Elimination Plan. In 2005, cholera outbreak struck within the Kakuma refugee camp in Kenya; 418 people were treated, and 4 persons died. In this Desk Review Paper, we have explored the presentation in the following sub-themes: Introduction, where we talked about sanitation and matters of Migration and Health from the global scale down to Turkana County, Kenya where Kakuma Refugee Camp is located; the influence of health education among migrants and the local communities on cholera prevention and control; the status of sanitation facilities and their use in cholera prevention and control; how the respective health systems are prepared in terms of human resource on cholera prevention and control including tackling emergencies on displaced populations; existing policies and laws governing the socio-economic space of migrants and host communities in Africa and the world. We discovered the need for health stakeholders to respond and strive to achieve Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) No. 1, 3, 6, 10 and WHO Triple Billion Targets and, in particular, prevent fecal-oral diseases among forced populations.