2,000 Cambodian children die of diarrhea per year: UNICEF

From Xinhua :

" The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) office in Cambodia said Sunday that a new figure showed that about 2,000 Cambodian children die every year of diarrheal diseases due to lack of safe water, sanitation and basic hygiene.

"In Cambodia, perhaps 2,000 die of diarrhea each year. However, one of the simplest and most inexpensive barriers to infection is handwashing with soap," the UNICEF said in a statement ahead of the the Global Handwashing Day to be celebrated in Cambodia on Monday.

It said that UNICEF, along with other partners and the Cambodian government, would launch a campaign in order to get the nation into the habit of handwashing with soap.

"The simple act of handwashing with soap is one of the most effective ways to save children's lives," said Sanjay Wijesekera, global head of UNICEF's Water, Sanitation and Hygiene programs. "Washing hands before eating and after defecation drastically reduces the spread of diarrheal disease and has far reaching effects on the health and welfare of children and communities."

According to UNICEF, diarrhea remains the second largest cause of under-five mortality globally with 600,000 children dying each year."

Alarming outbreak of cholera in the Central African Republic begins to subside

Latest news release from UNICEF, excerpt :

" BANGUI and NDIMBA, Central African Republic, 3 February 2012 – Véronique Yassambatendji was awakened late one night in October when her husband began experiencing severe diarrhoea and vomiting. The 30-year-old mother of four brought him directly to the local health centre in Ndimba, where he was treated with oral rehydration salts.

Unfortunately, the treatment was not enough.

“He died at 4:00 the next afternoon,” Ms. Yassambatendji recalled. “My children and I stayed in the hospital to clean ourselves, and then we took off our clothes and threw them in the river. Afterwards, health workers sprayed everything in the house with disinfectant.”

Ms. Yassambatendji’s husband was one of 19 people killed in the country’s cholera outbreak last year. More than 300 people cases were reported, and an epidemic was declared on 30 September 2011.

It was an alarming development. Though neighbouring countries, including Cameroon, Chad and the Democratic Republic of Congo, have experienced outbreaks over the past decade, the Central African Republic had not seen a cholera case in as many as a dozen years."

In Rwanda, successfully fighting a resurgence of malaria

News release from UNICEF on situation of Malaria in Rwanda, excerpt :

" NYAMATA, Rwanda, 19 January 2012 : Across Rwanda, children are benefiting from faster malaria diagnosis, the widespread distribution of nets, and the diligence of hospital and health centre staffs determined to keep malaria in check.

These renewed efforts are driven by a recent resurgence in malaria cases, following the country’s drastic reduction in both illness and death rates from malaria.

“In May 2010, we had 32 malaria-related deaths of children under the age of 5 in our district,” said Celestin Nzarerwanimana during an interview in late 2011. He is a community health supervisor at Nyamata Hospital in southern Rwanda.

“This year, in May we had only 17 deaths. Our efforts are working, but we still need to remain vigilant.”

‘Our team is advancing’

The Government of Rwanda is serious about this vigilance, and has procured new equipment to ensure rapid diagnosis and treatment. Among these essential supplies is the rapid malaria test, which makes a diagnosis using blood from a pricked finger.

In addition, community health workers have visited tens of thousands of homes to check whether families were properly using their bed nets. They also provided advice about hygiene, safe water, nutrition and family planning."

UNICEF leads community forums against polio in eastern Chad

A press release from UNICEF with regards to Polio in Chad :

" Focus on remote and vulnerable communities aims at stopping the spread of poliovirus in the country

In an effort to eradicate polio in Chad, UNICEF is stepping up its social mobilization efforts at the grassroots levels by mobilizing local authorities, religious leaders, women and youth groups, as well as other influential personalities, through community forums in the most remote and inaccessible regions of the country.

With 52 cases of poliovirus certified in the country over the past six months, twice the total registered in 2010, Chad has been identified as a public health emergency at the international level in the fight for the global eradication of polio. The country has also declared the polio situation a “national emergency”.

“In hard-to-reach areas, we need to mobilize all community forces and decision-makers to reach as many unimmunized children as possible and ensure more equitable coverage”, explained UNICEF Country Representative, Dr Marzio Babille.

The community forums, held in four Eastern Chad health districts where cases of polio have recently been certified, provided the opportunity to refute previous immunization coverage figures that were reportedly well above 100 per cent, as many identified villages have never received immunization services, including polio vaccine.

Participants also discussed common misconceptions on polio vaccination and made the commitment to act as ambassadors in their communities.. In Eastern Chad, many rumors about vaccination remain entrenched among the local population, such as that it reduces the fertility of girls and boys, that it contains swine oil, which is unacceptable for a widely Muslim population, or that it makes the children stubborn."