Posted on 3 August, 2012
Battling Cholera in Freetown, Sierra Leone
Sierra Leone’s capital. Freetown, is currently struggling to contain a cholera outbreak that has affected over 1,500 people and killed at least 17 to date. MSF, in collaboration with the Ministry of Health, is already running three cholera treatment units in the city and has treated more than 500 patients. Because the number of people infected continues to grow, however, MSF plans to open two additional treatment facilities up in the next 10 days.
“We are moving quickly to increase our capacity to handle all the new patients that will arrive,” says Karen Van den Brande, MSF head of mission in Sierra Leone. “Our present cholera treatment facilities are stretched to the limit with patients. The patients that we see are of all ages, so it’s not just children or already weak people that are at risk.”
Photo: Cholera patients at Marcauley cholera treatment unit in Freetown, Sierra Leone.
Sierra Leone © Florence Demeulin/MSF
It’s very important to react quickly to find where the disease (Ebola) is focused and to isolate it as fast as possible. It is also essential to take care of the caregivers, which means supporting and working closely with the Ugandan health teams who are already struggling to stop the virus from spreading.
Olimpia de la Rosa, MSF’s emergency coordinator for the Uganda Ebola intervention.
An emergency team from the international medical humanitarian organization MSF is helping to fight an outbreak of Ebola virus in western Uganda.