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STORY: SAHEL / CHOLERA
TRT: 2.15
SOURCE: CH UNTV
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / NATS
DATELINE: 10 JULY 2012, GENEVA, SWITZERLAND / FILE
FILE – RECENT, GENEVA, SWITZERLAND
1. Wide shot, UN flag
2. Wide shot, exterior United Nations Palais
10 JULY 2012, GENEVA, SWITZERLAND
3. Pan left, journalists in room
4. SOUNDBITE (English) Marixie Mercado, Spokesperson UNICEF:
“UNICEF is warning that an upsurge of cholera in the Sahel is placing children already weakened by nutrition at acute risk. The number of cholera cases has shot up especially in regions bordering the Niger River and the Nigerian Ministry of Health reports nearly three times as many cholera patients over the first half of 2012 compared with the same period last year.”
5. Med shot, journalists
6. SOUNDBITE (English) Tarik Jasarevic, Spokesman, World Health Organization (WHO):
“The consumption of water from the Niger river has been identified as the cause of the possible outbreak. The population has no longer the necessary resources to treat the water before consumption. As there is a breakdown in water supplies from Gao and Timbuktu due to the lack of fuel to activate the water pumping station, there is the additional risk of propagation of diarrheal diseases.”
7. Pan right, journalists
8. SOUNDBITE (English) Marixie Mercado, Spokesperson UNICEF:
“This displacement and the onset of the rainy season and this underlying situation of acute malnutrition is extremely dangerous for children.”
9. Med shot, podium and document
10. SOUNDBITE (English) Adrian Edwards, Spokesman, United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR):
“Today, political instability in Bamako and insecurity in northern Mali continue to trigger the flight of thousands of refugees to neighbouring countries. Over 365,000 people are estimated to have been displaced since the start of the year.”
11. Tilt down, journalist to computer
12. SOUNDBITE (English) Marixie Mercado, Spokesperson UNICEF:
“The funding for the water, sanitation, hygiene and health aspects of the response are only about a quarter funded and for the rest of the year, UNICEF requires 146 million dollars for the Sahel response.”
13. Pan right, from behind podium, of room
UNICEF warned today (10 July) that children in the Sahel are at acute risk from an upsurge in cholera.
The spokesperson for the agency, Marixie Mercado told journalists at a press conference that the number of cases has "shot up" in regions along the Niger River, with three times as many cases reported in the first half of this year compared to last year.
In West and Central Africa, cholera has killed 700 people so far in 2012, and more than 29,000 cases have been reported.
WHO spokesman Tarik Jasarevic said that health systems in this region are among the weakest in the world, and the population no longer has the resources to treat the water from the Niger River before consumption.
Mercado said the deteriorating situation is further exacerbated by the onset of the rainy season and the acute malnutrition amongst children. Niger is home to about 400,000 children who are expected to require life-saving treatment for severe malnutrition this year.
The epidemic is aggravated this year, said Mercado, by the massive displacement of people fleeing the conflict in northern Mali.
According to the UN refugee agency, more than 365,000 people have been displaced by the conflict in Mali since the beginning of the year. Many have fled to neighbouring Mauritania, Niger and Burkina Faso, and, in Mauritania alone, between 200-500 refugees are arriving each day.
In the face of underfunding, UNHCR are struggling to maintain minimum humanitarian standards for the refugees, and there is an increased risk of cholera outbreaks in many of the refugee camps.
UNICEF needs $146 million to help people in the Sahel this year, and is currently only about a quarter funded, according to the spokeswoman.
Cholera is known as a disease that affects the poor because of the lack of access to clean water and adequate sanitation.
