Faizel Patel, Radio Islam News – 23-11-2017
The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) says it is working with authorities in Bangladesh to urgently investigate high levels E.coli contamination in water drawn from wells inside the Rohingya refugee camps in Cox’s Bazar.
The latest figures from the World Health Organization suggest that 62 per cent of water available to households is contaminated.
UNICEF spokesperson Christophe Boulierac says they are concerned by an increase in cases of acute watery diarrhoea (AWD) which have included several deaths.
“We are seeing an upward trend in infection rates. Whilst the exact cause of increased cases of AWD remains uncertain, it may be linked to contaminated food or water.”
Boulierac says contamination may be being caused through poor hygiene practices, such as the use of dirty containers [and] bad hygiene habits of the population in water handling.
Since 25 August, some 622,000 refugees fleeing violence in Myanmar have sought refuge in Cox’s Bazar – bringing the total number of refugees there to an estimated 834,000.
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