Cholera In Kenya

Only 20% of Kenyans have access to some sort of medical coverage. With the population at over 44 million and rising, it means as many as 35 million Kenyans are excluded from quality health care coverage. In addition, a quarter of all money spent on health care comes from out-of-pocket expenses. Due to this waterborne diseases like cholera are nearly impossible to stop. Cholera is a waterborne disease so it can spread undetected through communities, who share the same water source or come in contact with it. The symptoms of cholera are a reason for its fast spreading nature. One of the many symptoms of cholera is severe diarrhoea. If not treated, Cholera can kill in several hours.

In a short period of time the watery faeces excreted when contagious

This is why the inhabitants of Kibera run independent businesses to earn a living such as roasting maize, selling food such as chips, mandazis, samosas, and sometimes prostitution. Sanitation is a way of preventing humans from being in contact with hazardous waste and the treatment and appropriate disposal of sewage or wastewater. In these independent businesses along with the lack of sanitation, the bacteria are spread through these foods, as they are the cheapest foods around everybody buys them, spreading the disease rapidly. Cholera can spread in raw or badly cooked seafood, raw fruit and vegetables, and other foods which were contaminated during preparation or storage. Another symptom is severe muscle cramps. This means that it is very hard for people affected to find a bathroom, as Kibera’s 1 million residents share 600 toilets; a single toilet serves 1,300 people causing them to go out in the open, spreading the disease at an extremely fast rate. In Kibera there are no government clinics or hospitals. The providers are the charitable organisations: AMREF, MSF, churches plus some others. With such a lack of hospitals and clinics, the chances of finding healthcare quick enough are very slim. These chances are made smaller due to the intense cramps cholera

These facilities are neither supervised nor regulated and lack trained staff, equipment, and lifesaving medications. Due to this people die in their own houses or trying to get to a proper hospital. If people die trying to get to one of these facilities they can still help the spread of cholera as people are still contagious after they die. The lack of health care, not high population density is one of the biggest contributors to the rising numbers of cholera epidemics in Kibera. Even if the population density was low, the number of cholera epidemics would remain the