
Fighting and preventing cholera
UNICEF and its partners respond
In the morning of August 4th, the atmosphere was strained in Turunga village in Nyiragongo Territory, north-west of Goma, North Kivu’s provincial capital. On both sides of a narrow strip covered with volcanic rocks, women and children sat on the bare ground with their yellow cans, waiting for the arrival of a precious and most needed commodity: potable water!
Among them, Chantal, 13 years old, comes from a family of four. “I come here every day in the morning to collect water in three or four cans to meet our family needs. I pay 150 Congolese franc per can” she said.

Local initiatives to fill the water gap
Since the beginning of the dry season in June 2017, the quantity of potable water provided by the public water distribution system (Regideso) has drastically decreased in Goma. Many households rely on fetching water from the Lake Kivu to meet their water needs. In suburban areas, local organisations as well as individuals organise themselves to fill the gap using tankers to provide water to the households for a small remuneration.
In Turunga, Pastor Theodore Lufuluabo (74) has installed a 15 cubic meter bladder to sell purified water to his neighbours.

“I have engaged in this activity to make sure we have potable water nearby. I feel very bad when I see whole families walking long distances just to collect the lake water which is not even potable”.
Drinking potable water to prevent cholera
The poor capacity of the public water distribution system and the consumption of non-potable water from the lake led in late June to a cholera outbreak that has affected more than 3,000 people, leaving 15 dead in North Kivu province. Since then, the provincial government, with support from its partners including UNICEF, has been responding to contain the disease.

“UNICEF provides technical, financial and material support to the Congolese Government. We have been mobilising everyday to make sure cholera patients receive the appropriate healthcare and that households have access to potable water and adopt healthy hygiene practices to prevent and contain the outbreak” said Anne Daher Aden, Officer-in-charge for UNICEF’s Eastern Zone.
Cholera outbreak, a public health problem
The scale of the outbreak did not go un-noticed by the central government. From August 9 through the 11th, the national Minister of Public Health, Dr Orly Ilunga, visited Goma to assess the situation.
“The cholera outbreak in Goma is a very serious public health problem that cannot be neglected. Our mission aims at assessing the situation and trying to adjust the response plan with urgent measures in order to break the transmission cycle and curb the trend in the coming days” said the minister.

Urgent measures to contain the outbreak
Following a technical meeting with government partners, the national Minister of Public Health has committed to some urgent prevention and response measures, ranging from the removal of taxes on tankers involved in water trade and distribution in town to the increase in water purification points along Lake Kivu, as well as the remuneration of health and social workers working alongside community volunteers involved in the response.
Eradicating cholera in DRC
Dr Ilunga has also visited two water purification sites, a cholera treatment centre and the North Kivu’s drug procurement and distribution centre (ASRAMES).
“We have to congratulate health workers, community volunteers and all partners for the work they have been doing” he said.
By Cynthia Kanyere, Communication Officer, UNICEF East DRC
>> Translated from French by Djaounsede Pardon Madjiangar, Communication Specialist, UNICEF East DRC
