Emergency Appeal in complementing Government’s effort in combating cholera outbreak in Sierra Leone Since January 2012, Sierra Leone has experienced a sudden and severe outbreak of Cholera, affecting almost 13,000,000 reported cases, of which 230 cases have died (WHO Sierra Leone).  The outbreak began in two Districts in the North of the Country, Kambia and Port Loko, and is linked to a regional outbreak which spreads throughout Guinea, Liberia and Ghana.  Today cholera outbreak has hit ten (10) of the country’s thirteen (13) districts.  Due to the spread of cholera infection in the country, with a CFR of 1.8%, the Government has declared the disease as a national epidemic. 

According to WHO, Sierra Leone is a cholera-endemic country. Every year, especially in the raining seasons, the country has several cases of cholera infections, but never on an epidemic proportion. This year, totally unprepared, the country was hit by a wave of cholera infections, unprecedented in the country’s history, overwhelming the normal handling capacity of the country’s fragile healthcare system. In April, the first cases of cholera were reported by the media, in which it was testified that “a cholera outbreak has sickened more than 3800 and killed 66 people since January”. The report says the number of suspected cholera cases in Freetown alone had skyrocketed within three weeks from 3 to 410, resulting in nine deaths. In August 2012, the cholera outbreak continued to heighten and spread throughout the country. On the 22nd August, WHO reported 12,456 cases with 224 deaths. (CFR of 1.8) On the 24th. August WHO reported 12,819 cases, with 22 deaths. This means within two days 363 persons were infected. On the 27th. August BBC reported a caseload of 13,000 infections with 230 deaths.  This means cholera is on the increase 

By and large, several thousands of people still remain unaware of the causes of cholera, how to prevent it, and how to quickly respond when cholera hit. It has been uncommon to hear of religious groups gathering in prayer sessions, to pray fervently cast out the demon of cholera. It is also not uncommon to hear poor people talking about a new spell God is using to punish the sins of Sierra Leonean. Little reference is made about medical causes of cholera, and how it can be prevented through improved health and hygiene habits. If health habits are not dramatically reversed, as the raining season peaks, it is expected that cholera may affect more than 32,000 people. This situation is likely to worsen as school reopens for the new academic year, since several hundreds of thousands of children will be exposed to eating unprotected street food and water, either on the way to school, during lunch break, and on the way home. 

In line with the catholic social teachings, the vision of Caritas International Confederation, and the directives of the Catholic Bishop Conference, Caritas Sierra Leone, has as one of its core mandate, a commitment to support vulnerable groups, those left out of social service provisions, and especially in times of emergencies. Through this proposal, Caritas Sierra Leone, seek to do just that: to provide relief of poverty in order to support those who are neglected, or ignored, or left out, or go unnoticed. Throughout the war years, Caritas Sierra Leone was in the fore front of managing emergency projects, including food, hygiene, health and medical services; and the care of displaced persons and refugees. In more than ten years, Caritas Sierra Leone and its member organization were able to quickly coordinate service provisions to reach the most neglected, the most unnoticed.