The number of cholera cases in the Kathmandu Valley has been reduced to zero after a month-long mitigation campaign. At a meeting to celebrate the success of the campaign, the government announced a strategy to prevent diseases like cholera and diarrhoea from recurring.

The Cholera Mitigation Programme was organised in September 2008 by the Ministry of Physical Planning and Works (MPPW) with support from UNICEF and the UN-HABITAT Water for Asian Cities programme. It involved some 25 local NGOs and 250 volunteers, who were engaged in awareness raising and chlorine distribution. In one month the campaign reduced the number of cholera cases in the Valley from 315 to zero.

At the celebration meeting, the MPPW Joint Secretary, Suman Sharma, announced the government's strategy to combat cholera, diarrhoea and other contagious diseases in 2009.

Related news:

• Nepal: campaign launched to mitigate cholera, Source South Asia, 02 Oct 2008;
• Nepal: government prepares for possible diarrhoea epidemic, Source South Asia, 18 August 2008;
• Cholera: research findings shed new light on epidemic behaviour, Source South Asia, 02 Sep 2008

Related web site: WHO - Cholera

Source: NGO Forum, 16 Dec and 17 Dec 2008

Tags: hygiene promotion, information and communication, south asia, water treatment, water-related diseases