CERF allocates $650,000 in response to cholera outbreak in Cameroon

25 August 2010: In response to the cholera outbreak that started in Cameroon on 6 May 2010, CERF allocated $650,000 to humanitarian agencies.

Some $370,000 will go to the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) for water and sanitation programmes and the World Health Organization (WHO) will use $282,000 for cholera control. Both programmes will help four million people living in the far north and north regions.

The far north and north regions of Cameroon are the poorest regions in the country. Severe climatic conditions, very little rainfall, semi desert nature of the soil, subsistence agricultural practices, exposed loose soils, and flooding during the short rainy season all lend to unfavorable conditions. Less than 30 percent of the population there has access to portable drinking water and less than 12 percent use appropriate latrines.

Across Cameroon and especially in the far north and north regions, the sanitation system is highly inadequate and awareness on basic hygiene remains very low. Fecal matter is littered on farms, river beds and around homes. During the rainy season (June-September), it is swept into the streams and water pools. Furthermore, during the rainy season, due to the rare nature of rains and water throughout the year, adults and children spend a lot of time in the streams bathing and doing the washing. These streams also serve as drinking water sources.