Podcast on Cholera Prevention

Welcome, everyone. My name is Alete Nube, and we are talking cholera prevention. Considering the current cholera outbreaks in Zimbabwe, it is important to talk about cholera prevention. Cholera is a severe diarrhea-like infection that is caused by eating food or water contaminated by a particular kind of bacteria or germ. Cholera can kill untreated people within hours through excessive loss of fluid. And for us to understand cholera prevention, I'll implore you to understand it in the light of this interesting story. And the story goes like this. Mr. Nube, representing the residents of Tlawayo, was furiously charging towards the municipality offices of Tlawayo City for a scheduled meeting with the city mayor. You could tell from the door breaking up when Mr. Nube arrived at the mayor's office that not all was well. Anger and frustration was written all over his face when the mayor gave him permission to enter his office. There were no formal greetings, and the only thing that resembled greeting was a question in a loud voice full of anger by Mr. Nube. Mr. Nube asked the mayor, why are you killing the entire city with your incompetence? You could tell that the mayor did not take kindly to this question, as in the twinkie of an eye, security was ready to throw Mr. Nube out of the mayor's premises. However, the mayor ordered security to stand down. He wanted to understand the reason behind Mr. Nube's anger. The mayor, in a low and collected tone, asked Mr. Nube to come down and explain to him what happened. Mr. Nube could not keep to himself, but with tears rolling down from his eyes, screamed at the top of his voice, you are giving us contaminated water, and now my wife and son are among the many that have died from cholera. Mr. Mayor shocked and fell back to his seat and was lost of words. He was standing the entire time since Mr. Nube entered his office. In a humble manner, Mr. Mayor comforted Mr. Nube, who was now threatening organizing protests against the mayor. Mr. Nube didn't expect this reaction from the mayor and calmed down. The mayor was sorry for Mr. Nube's loss and he explained to him that they have not received budget allocation from the central government to be able to treat water and the money they had raised from fundraising had finished from buying chemicals previously. Mr. Nube realized that it was not the mayor's fault there was cholera outbreak. He resolved that he was going to address the people he was representing to pay their bills in good time so as to help the city council to generate funds that will cater for water treatment and to avoid cholera outbreaks. Mr. Nube requested the mayor to educate people on cholera prevention through his relevant council structures. In the meantime, the mayor requested the council health doctor to explain to Mr. Nube how cholera is prevented. The doctor explained to him that in order to prevent cholera, it is important to wash hands before touching food and after visiting the toilet. So I called to action. You can prevent cholera by taking the following steps. First, drink only boiled or treated water and bucket or canned carbonated beverages. Second, wash your hands often with soap and clean water. Third, if soap and water are not available, wash your hands with an alcohol bath hand cleaner that contains at least 60% alcohol. It is important to clean your hands before you eat or prepare food and after using the toilet. Thank you so much, everyone, for taking time to listen. Let us make sure we do our best to stop the spread of cholera by taking necessary steps to prevent cholera. Thank you.