|
|
KYRGYZSTAN: Illnesses Flow from Dirty Water
By Egamberdy Kabulov - Asia Water Wire*
BISHKEK, Jan 20 (IPS) - In a middle school in Burghandy village in south
Kyrgyzstan, pupils come to school with their own bottle of boiled water
or tea, clearly labelled with their names.
This is no ordinary school regulation but one that is crucial to public
health as part of attempts to prevent children from falling ill from
belly typhus, which is the most common infectious disease due to dirty
water in the south of this Central Asian country.
The most recent episode of belly typhus in Burghandy occurred in
December, and it also affected two other villages - Mombekov and
Dostuk - in Jalal-Abad province. There are more than 16,000 people in
these villages.
Due to polluted and unsafe water from the Majluusuu River that residents
use for drinking and cooking, 65 inhabitants ended up in hospital and
many others were treated by doctors at home. Children made up 77.5
percent of patients up to 14 years old.
This why the school in Burghandy has taken precautions steps to prevent
another outbreak. Two years ago, 25 of its pupils had fallen ill with
belly typhus.
"Now we have taken all steps so that children don't drink dirty water
from canals," Rabia Dovlatova, head of the middle school, said, pointing
to the students' water containers. - Also, doctors often come to our
school. Teachers and doctors constantly explain to parents and pupils
the rules of hygiene," Dovlatova added.
Experts say it is time for better preventive measures and improvements
in the quality of water. Already, the number of rural residents who are
usually hospitalised due to belly typhus has risen from 30 in previous
years to 95 people in 2005, according to Umsunay Nazaeva, a doctor at
the infectious diseases branch of the Jalal-Abad province united
hospital.
"The main reason for the occurrence of this illness is infected water.
People are compelled to use water from open reservoirs and channels for
drinking and cooking. Only 20 percent of them have access to water
pipes," Nazaeva explained.
''Other peasants are compelled to drink dirty water from irrigation
channels. Old water lines in any way do not meet the requirements of
sanitary, hygienic and technical rules," Nazaeva added.
In the case of Burghandy, Dovlatova said, "Old water lines work only two
hours per day." Those who not get to access water from these lines are
compelled to use water from irrigation canals, she adds.
Local administrations do not have enough means to repair and construct
new water supply systems, according to Bektur Umarov, head of the Jalal-
Abad branch of the department of rural water supply under the ministry
of agriculture and water management.
While there is a state programme, supported by international donors,
called ‘Taza Suu' (‘Pure Water'), this is being ôcarried out very
slowly", Umarov said. The water lines in 277 out of 423 villages in
Jalal-Abad require improvement.
''Last year, only 16 villages received new water lines. This year, we
plan to construct new water networks in 27 villages. It is not enough,"
Umarov pointed out.
But pricing is also an unresolved issue. The requirement from
international donors is that 5 percent of the cost of water services
under the Taza Suu programme should be paid for by users. But Umarov
reports that the collection of fees from residents is far from ideal.
"We have collected 39.4 million soms (961,000 U.S. dollars), but this is
only 59 percent. The basic problem (in paying) is the poverty of the
population. People lack money for living expenses," he added. ôMany
peasants consider that the money (they pay) will appear in the pockets
of officials. They do not trust that money will go to the construction
of water pipes."
''The level of corruption in Kyrgyzstan is very high. People do not
trust the authorities any more. It is very difficult to break this
stereotype," local resident Ibraghim Askarov said.
According to the constitution of Kyrgyzstan, citizens have the right to
free health services, which should theoretically make it easier for them
to get treated when illnesses like belly typhus occur.
But the government and the Ministry of Health are unable to provide such
services for all.
"Apart from belly typhus, there are also other infectious diseases,"
stressed Dr Nazaeva. We (already) lack medicines and doctors. If you
count all the infected patients, you will understand that the situation
is catastrophic. The provincial sanitary and epidemiological services do
not have sufficient financial assets."
In the event of an epidemic from dirty, polluted water or other causes,
Nazaeva says the country would be hard put to rely on its own resources
to cope. ''There is a constant danger of new epidemics," Nazaeva said.
(*The Asia Water Wire is a series of features on water and development
in the region, coordinated by IPS Asia-Pacific.)
(END/2006)
|
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
What is RSS?
