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Afghanistan: Free Water Solution Aids Cholera Battle KABUL, Afghanistan, August 4, 2005 — PSI has responded to a cholera outbreak here by doing free distribution of Clorin, PSI's home water purification solution, in order to prevent water-borne diseases. Less than 40% of Afghan families have access to safe water and diarrheal disease is the country's leading killer of children under five. To combat these preventable deaths, PSI has been marketing Clorin safe water solution (SWS) in Afghanistan since 2003. The SWS is a bottle of chlorine solution used to disinfect water at point of use by inactivating microbial pathogens that cause diarrhea. The campaign, part of a task force assembled by the Afghan Ministry of Public Health with support from UNICEF and USAID, began in an area with the poorest access to potable water. PSI also distributed specially designed 20-liter water vessels to encourage correct storage by schools and families at risk of cholera. The water vessels were designed for simple use and to minimize the risk of recontamination of drinking water. A tap dispenser prevents the recontamination that might occur if cups, held by dirty hands, were dipped into the water. By early July, Engineer Sarwar, PSI/Afghnistan technical services manager and coordinator of the distribution effort, had managed the distribution of vessels and Clorin to more than 6,000 families and distributed more than 500 vessels to schools, providing access to clean water to over 29,000 pupils. Each class at the Rabia Balkhi school in Karte Char is now drinking safe water, thanks to the distribution of Clorin and the water vessels. The school, which was rebuilt after the war, still uses an old tank shell case as the school bell. A 20-year-old girl named Jamshed explained that one of her neighbor's children, a boy of 18, had suffered from extreme diarrhea and died 24 hours later. "One of my cousins is ill and a nephew is in the hospital at the moment," said Zakiah, a 30-year-old woman, as she received her kit. With an unemployed husband, her family of six relies on the $24 monthly salary her 14-year-old son earns as a carpet weaver. Zakiah would normally not be able to afford the $2 to buy vessel. But with the vessel and a month's supply of Clorin given to her for free, PSI workers believe that the 30 cents a month - a penny a day - cost of replenishing Clorin will be within her grasp. Radio spots on the correct use of Clorin and the importance of treating water are being aired in the city, and PSI trucks with loudspeakers broadcast health messages while distributing Clorin and vessels. — Marcie Cook, PSI/Afghanistan
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