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Meningitis Outbreak in Fanko: 5 students
Dead
Department of Information and Culture
Eritrean People’s Party
May 18, 2009
Five
Students are confirmed dead and scores of people ill after an outbreak
of meningitis began spreading in the village of Fanko on Friday, May 8,
2009. The disease is spreading among the residents, increasing the
chances of more infection in the village.
Apart
from banning travel to and from Fanko, the government has done little to
control the outbreak of the disease. There is only one health facility
in Fanko, which is not equipped to deal with meningitis outbreak, both
in terms of health care providers and service delivery.
To date,
the regime has not taken the necessary steps to stop the spread of the
disease. It is not giving out information or educating the public on how
to identify and protect the disease; nor is it providing adequate
treatments and medications to those who have already developed the
disease. Despite the threat of the outbreak of the disease, the regime
of Isayas has so far chosen to keep the existence of the disease secret.
Fanko is
a village located in Western Eritrea, Gash region. Its residents were
repatriated from Sudan between 1994 and 1996, under the repatriation
program signed by UN High Commissioner for Refugees, Sudan, and Eritrea.
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