There is a cholera epidemic currently going on in Cameroon. As one who was born in Cameroon, I began hearing of cholera epidemic from the time I was still an infant. I lost relatives and friends to the disease when I was growing up. I am not familiar with how the disease is transmitted but we were told that it is a water-borne disease and people sometimes contracted the disease when they drink dirty water. The disease also seems to be contagious because anyone who dies of the disease is immediately buried by government officials. Relatives and friends are not allowed to touch the corpse for fear that the they may also contract the disease. During cholera outbreaks people are often advised to take care not to eat food that is not clean, such as eating a mango which one might have bought from a hawker. People are advised to boil water before drinking and wash their hands carefully, especially before meal. When I was growing up in Muyuka, Cameroon, in the early 1980s, the city did not have any running water. People mostly drank the same water in which they bathed. Before Muyuka had pipe-borne water sometimes in the late 1980s, there were frequent cholera outbreaks in the town. But since it had pipe-borne water, cholera outbreak has reduced.
I recount all this to say that cholera epidemics appear to be based on the general hygienic condition in which people live. It appears that the incidence of outbreaks can be reduced or even eliminated if the hygienic condition is improved. Thus, it is difficult to hear of cholera outbreaks in countries where the water systems have been improved and the general standards of hygiene have also been improved. These are things that can be done if people have responsible governments. Cholera epidemics have been happening in Cameroon continuously for at least the last year or two. But the government has surprisingly been doing remarkably little to improve the general condition of hygiene in the country. Improving hygiene is not only about telling people to wash their hands before they eat; it also has to do with the general level of economic development. That is to say, where economic development is poor, cholera outbreaks have a greater chance of happening. Where governments make no effort to improve the lives of the people, as is the case with Cameroon under Paul Biya, cholera outbreaks become the opportunity to get rid of unwanted people. Will Biya ever care to give Cameroonians a shot at living a good life or will they keep dying young, as they do now, so that Biya may live to old age?
I recount all this to say that cholera epidemics appear to be based on the general hygienic condition in which people live. It appears that the incidence of outbreaks can be reduced or even eliminated if the hygienic condition is improved. Thus, it is difficult to hear of cholera outbreaks in countries where the water systems have been improved and the general standards of hygiene have also been improved. These are things that can be done if people have responsible governments. Cholera epidemics have been happening in Cameroon continuously for at least the last year or two. But the government has surprisingly been doing remarkably little to improve the general condition of hygiene in the country. Improving hygiene is not only about telling people to wash their hands before they eat; it also has to do with the general level of economic development. That is to say, where economic development is poor, cholera outbreaks have a greater chance of happening. Where governments make no effort to improve the lives of the people, as is the case with Cameroon under Paul Biya, cholera outbreaks become the opportunity to get rid of unwanted people. Will Biya ever care to give Cameroonians a shot at living a good life or will they keep dying young, as they do now, so that Biya may live to old age?
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