Back to Helping the World, Department

No matter what is happening in the realm of sports and politics, Israelis continue to reach out to help others. Quietly at times and other times with a bit more splash, Israelis are helping make it a better world.

Following is a wonderful example. There is no cholera in Israel - at least not that I remember, and yet this solution, coming out of Israel, shows our ongoing concern for others.

From Israel National News:

The Red Cross in Kenya has adopted a unique cholera prevention program developed by master degree students from the Hebrew University in Jerusalem. The prevention program was found to be highly effective in prevention and management
of the disease.

The Red Cross is preparing to implement the program beyond the displaced persons camps in Kenya, where it was first put into use. The students are from Kenya, Ethiopia, Nigeria, Colombia, Uzbekistan, India and the United States, and have been studying in Israel on the one-year Legacy-Heritage International Masters in Public Health Program at Hebrew University.

There are outbreaks of cholera in Kenya every year, mostly as a result of torrential rains with accompanying floods that contaminate already inadequate water supplies. The students have determined that the disease can be prevented and fatalities easily avoided if prevention efforts are integrated into routine health care and if outbreaks of the disease are reported early enough. However, student team leader Solomon Nzioka from Kenya said that the government often denies the outbreaks out of fears of losing tourist dollars.

If Kenyan government funding is secured, the students expect that the program will
increase access to safe drinking water from 47 to 80 percent within three years. While the program is currently only being considered in Kenya, the students hope
that it will soon be utilized in other countries, such as Nigeria and Ethiopia, where they say cholera is rife.