“ CHOLERA MONSTER”
“I had always heard of cholera but never thought that it would affect me one day.”
Eman is a 45-year-old patient from al-Sabagh village, Hajja Governorate, Yemen. She is grateful to tell her story of how VHI supported local clinics in saving her life from cholera.
When Eman woke up with vomiting and diarrhea, she immediately rushed to the diarrhea treatment center (DTC) in al-Sabagh village, located in the Aflah Al-Yemen area. The clinic was previously a simple center that treated minor diseases for people in the region, not eligible to receive deadly diseases such as Cholera. recently, the clinic had been upgraded. The doctor quickly recognized that Eman had cholera. “Upon my diagnosis with cholera,” she explains, “ I was transferred to a separate ward and received intensive care.” Eman received cholera medication, including glucose drips to rehydrate her body, and was given high-quality care by the doctor and nurses.
Cholera is an infectious disease that causes severe liquid diarrhea, which can lead to dehydration and even death if untreated. It is caused by eating food or drinking water contaminated with a bacterium called Vibrio cholerae. The disease is most common in places with poor sanitation, crowding, war, and famine. Vibrio cholerae, the bacterium that causes cholera, is usually found in food or water contaminated by feces from a person with the infection.
Sabagh village is one of the villages targeted by VHI with the Emergency Cholera Response Project. Vision Hope partnered with local Healthcare Facilities, such as the Al-Sabagh clinic, to support the establishment of diarrhea treatment center (DTCs) and oral rehydrating centers (ORCs) for cholera patients, in addition to providing the facilities with emergency supplies and medication. Healthcare workers received training on cholera, and a team of hygiene promoters went door-to-door to educate families on sanitation and cholera prevention.
After the implementation of the project, the number of cholera cases in the targeted districts dropped dramatically due to increased community awareness on how to prevent the disease. With the provision of medication and supplies, those who were affected by the disease had the care needed in order to recover and avoid it in the future. Whereas an average of 20 patients died of cholera each week in all the HFs of Hajja Governorate, that number dropped to zero.
Eman remained at the DTC at Jawanah Health Center for three days while she recovered. “I was scared to die just like other people in the village, but fortunately, I was admitted to the DTC.”
Without the intervention of Vision Hope, she may have become one of the thousands of fatalities caused by the cholera epidemic.
