Over 100 children in Mandera exposed to drought-related diseases

Mandera county health executive Dr Mohamud Adan Mohamed. [File, Standard]

Residents of Mandera county risk being exposed to diseases as a result of the raging drought.

At least 106 children have already been admitted to hospitals across the county.

A big number of them below the age of five are suffering from malnutrition coupled with extreme complications.

The county health executive, Dr Mohamud Adan Mohamed, says the children are exposed to pneumonia, tuberculosis and diarrhea.

He says that much as they are grappling with malnutrition-related diseases, tackling measles still remains a daunting task and that they're putting a mechanism to deal with it.

"We are already having reports from Mandera West sub-county of children with that kind of symptoms and we have sent our surveillance team to collect samples for us to verify", he adds.

Lactating and pregnant mothers who are also at risk of suffering from respiratory diseases often end up giving birth to underweight babies.

The county government has lined up a series of interventions through nutritional outreach programs which include; iron supplementation, deworming and rehabilitation of admitted children.

International and humanitarian agencies have also stepped up efforts in collaboration with the county government to support the mothers and give cash transfers to vulnerable households.

Dr Mohamud also notified the public that they're aware of the Ebola outbreak in Uganda and they have formed a task force committee to look into the issue.

Prevention measures like informing the public, establishing the mode in which the disease is transmitted and educating the public on how to prevent the disease are already in place.