A Retrospective Study on Cholera: Problematizing the Plight of the IDPs in Baidoa, Southwest State of Somalia
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Abstract
Cholera outbreaks occur recurrently in Baidoa, taking away the lives of so many people most of whom are children and the elderly. An earlier study on the subject discussed several aspects of the disease and its fatal consequences to the people, creating a debate over whether cholera mostly affected the large communities in the IDPs in Baidoa district and its environs or whether the host community constituted the largest number of the victims of the epidemic. To come to the bottom of the problem, this study was carried out to understand some of the possible reasons leading to outbreak of the epidemic as well as collect evidence from relevant medical personnel involved in the operation during the outbreak. The study utilizes the qualitative method to demonstrate some the reasons behind the 2017 cholera outbreak and the most affected among the people in Baidoa consisting of the host community and the IDPs. It used unstructured, open-ended interviews with health personnel consisting of medical doctors and nurses who had participated in the containment of the cholera outbreak in 2017. The results revealed that the epidemic struck the IDP communities harder than the host community in Baidoa due to factors identified as: overcrowding in IDP Camps, poor sanitation, lack of clean drinking water, lack of (or improper) latrines, faesces/ rubbish/garbage in the IDPs camps, and unpreparedness on the side of the authorities, among other causes
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