A few cases of diarrhea were reported in the district in the past week raising concerns about repeat of the last year´s epidemic but Dr Bishwaraj Khanal, who completed an assessment visit of the district, claimed that there is no need to worry as the government is fully prepared to contain any such outbreak. [break]
"We are fully prepared and medicines have been sent to every village in the district," Dr Khanal, a senior health official at the Epidemiology and Disease Control Division of the Health Ministry said over the phone.
"There were a few isolated cases of diarrhea in some villages but all have been cured and there weren´t more than 5-6 cases in any village," Dr Khanal added. He said a few cases of diarrhea is normal in this dry season and the focus is not to let it spread as in the previous year when more than 300 lives were lost in Jajarkot district alone.
"We conducted a three-day seminar for health workers of the district and also held meetings with the district administration and all other stakeholders including the District Disaster Relief Committee to discuss the issue," Dr Khanal said.
He said health workers are distributing chlorine for purification of water in the district and a campaign on health awareness is also on throughout the district.
There is still the problem of open defecation in the district. According to the last census report, 81 per cent of Jajarkot folks still defecate in open meaning 122,769 villagers do not use toilets. The government had decided to build 3,000 toilets in the district but construction has not started.
"We do not construct toilets. We held discussions with the Drinking Water Supply Corporation and they said tender process for toilets has already been completed and construction will start soon," Dr Khanal said. "But the overall preparedness will still negate the effect of open defecation this time," Dr Khanal assured.
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