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Sports |
Typhoid in school is result of
ignorance
THE recent typhoid outbreak at the
Wabag Secondary School is nothing new. If I am not mistaken, the
school suffered similar outbreak on two separate occasions not
too long ago.
So it is nothing new to the school administration, education
division and the so-called provincial education board (PEB) and
the provincial administration.
I am a health inspector employed by the Division of Health in
Enga. I was not there when the first case of typhoid outbreak
was reported but was there the second time around. A resident
medical doctor and a nurse from the Wabag District Disease
Control conducted an investigation and compiled a separate
report and so did I.
I also searched for the report of the first outbreak which was
made by my immediate superior (John Esson), who was the
provincial environmental health officer and had a thorough look
at the recommendations only to realise that none of them was
adhered to by the school administration or PEB.
I then put together a collective report blended with
recommendations from the first incident and strongly recommended
that drastic actions be taken to alleviate the situation for the
betterment of the student population.
It was stressed in the conclusion of the report that should the
education authorities failed to do anything, there would be a
repeat of the outbreak.
As such, I was not surprise to read about the third typhoid
outbreak.
The outbreak is purely a result of inaction by people in
authority.
In the same token, Wabag Secondary School cannot be singled out.
Kopen Secondary School is also in a dire need of massive
refurbishment exercise, particularly the sewage system and
reticulated water supply system.
The capacities of the septic systems installed from the outset
were not the appropriate size given the school setting for the
intake of the sewage load.
The health adviser (Tom Moses) directed me to launch an
investigation soon after the entire student population marched
to PHQ and petitioned the Enga provincial administration on the
poor condition of the school.
I did so only to discover in my investigation that the school
was in short supply of water for cooking, drinking, laundry,
shower and flushing the cistern in the water closets. There were
faeces on the concrete flooring in the toilet and communal pit
latrines in the open air without enclosure for privacy were
merely the icing of the poor sanitary conditions.
The school administration regarded the poor sanitary conditions
as trivial issues and endeavoured to water down the allegation
made by the students.
The bureaucrats in the PHQ defended the school administration
and claimed the students were making unfounded claims.
The bureaucrats in the province failed to take responsibility
and consistently denied the students a hygienic and healthy
environment.
As I am writing now, the school is in a shocking state with
incomplete sewage system discharging raw sewage into the open
trench, inconsistent supply of water, pollution of atmosphere
with offending odour, inundation with flies in and around the
kitchen and dormitory, irregular garbage collection and disposal
schedule and a lot more.
Such unhygienic situation in the school would only invite more
cases of typhoid outbreak and associated effects. Lives are at
stake and the authorities must act.
N Waiyo
Via e-mail
 
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