The cholera outbreak declared by the Tanzanian government in July 2015 has continued to spread throughout the nation. Dar-es-Salaam has seen the most cholera victims: 3,106 cumulative cases as of 22nd October 2015, out of a total of 4,220 cases in the whole country. The arrival of the disease in this enormous city of 4 million inhabitants, where many live in shanty towns, has caused the health authorities considerable concern.
Faced with this epidemic, the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent societies (IFRC) is supporting the Tanzania Red Cross Society (a member of the PIROI network) by deploying an emergency Field Assessment Coordination Team (FACT) on the ground for 2 weeks. The team consists of health, water and sanitation specialists.
PIROI is also assisting the Tanzanian teams by sending a Regional Disaster Response Team (RDRT) member for 2 to 4 weeks. The water and sanitation specialist Thomas Margueron has been made available to the Red Cross by his employer, the Indian Ocean Regional Health Authority (ARS), as part of a partnership agreement between ARS and PIROI.
As part of his mission, which started on 30th October, this PIROI RDRT member is supporting the Tanzania Red Cross Society and FACT team already present by carrying out various assessments of health, water and sanitation requirements as well as disaster management. He is also participating in response coordination with other humanitarian actors in the field.