Cholera in Ad Duwaim … Mass death

Investigation: Haitham Al-Sayid

Cholera infection rates have risen alarmingly in Ad Duwaim city in White Nile State, with a clear increase in the death rate over the past weeks. The isolation center set up outside the hospital continues to receive large numbers of patients from Ad Duwaim and its suburbs daily. The isolation center is no longer able to absorb the large numbers of patients due to its small space and various other problems, most notably the lack of toilets. The lack of intravenous solutions at Ad Duwaim Hospital in the past few days has worsened the conditions inside the isolation center.

Violent Reactions

The Director of Ad Duwaim Hospital, Dr. Mohamed Bishara, attributed the spread of cholera to citizens’ use of contaminated and undrinkable water brought directly from the Nile due to power outages.
The hospital had chosen the Yanmu (grow) Organization for Children`s House, which is separated from the hospital by a street a few meters wide, as a center for isolating cholera patients, despite the presence of designated isolation areas inside the hospital. This decision sparked violent reactions among doctors, medical cadres, and citizens of the city, as well as on social media, which erupted in rejection of the choice of the location due to its proximity to residential, commercial, and service areas.

A consultant in internal medicine pointed out that the problems related to the isolation center were the reason for the exacerbation of the disease among the companions and the incomplete recovery of the patients, most of whom were discharged from the isolation center before their recovery was complete, and returned again to receive treatment. He said that the majority of the patients currently in isolation were companions of patients a few days ago, calling for those who insisted on choosing this location to be held accountable despite the existence of various suitable locations, including the hospital itself, and the dormitory adjacent to the isolation inside the hospital could have been evacuated.

If you don’t have money, you will die

Awad, a companion of a patient in the isolation center, says that the situation inside the situation inside the isolation center has a lack of respect for human dignity, worsens the condition of patients and exposes their companions to the risk of disease, adding that the most basic services are not available, noting that some free treatments are now sold outside the center and that they spent nearly three hundred thousand pounds to provide treatment that is supposed to be free. “If you don’t have money, you will die”, he added.

A specialized medical official said that the cadres working in the isolation center do not have sufficient experience, and their number is very small compared to the large number of patients. He said that the cadres worked hard, but they lack experience and basic supplies.

Alternative Places

Health officials held meetings to address the tragic situation regarding the isolation center, and a number of places were suggested, including Al-Duwaim Stadium, the isolation ward inside the hospital, and the eastern square of Hussein Abdul-Aziz Center adjacent to the hospital. The latter became the closest option due to its capacity and distance from people’s gatherings.