Notes to broadcasters
Note: More information about preparing oral rehydration solution at home and treating children with diarrhea is available in the Network script “Your child with diarrhea needs special care” – Package 19, Script 10. Part of the script is reprinted on the next page.
Script
No. 1
Prevent cholera. Wash your hands with soap and water after going to the toilet or the latrine and before preparing food for eating.
No. 2
Prevent cholera. Do not eat foods prepared in the streets. Buy whole fruits that are not peeled.
No. 3
Prevent cholera. Eat foods that are cooked and hot. Avoid eating raw and cold foods.
No. 4
Prevent cholera. Use a latrine or washroom. If you have to defecate outside, dig a hole, defecate in it and cover it over with earth.
No. 5
Prevent cholera. Use water that is safe to drink. If you do not have safe drinking water, boil it or add chlorine bleach.
No. 6
Prevent cholera. To purify water, add three drops of chlorine bleach for each litre of water. Shake it up and let it stand for 20 minutes.
No. 7
Prevent cholera. In case of diarrhea, rehydrate the sick person at home. Use oral rehydration packages. Make sure you use clean, treated water.
No. 8
Prevent cholera. A person suffering from diarrhea loses a lot of liquids and salts. Replace these substances by using oral rehydration packages.
No. 9
Prevent cholera. The best way to rehydrate a person who is suffering from diarrhea is to give oral rehydration solution. You can get oral rehydration packages in pharmacies and health centres. The packages come in two sizes, to make a glass of water or to make a litre of water.
No. 10
Prevent cholera. When you take someone who has cholera to a health centre, make sure you take enough oral rehydration packages to last for the entire trip.
No. 11
Prevent cholera. When you take someone who is suffering from cholera to a health centre, take along plastic bags to collect the diarrhea and the vomit as well as the dirty clothes of the sick person. Avoid spreading the disease.
No. 12
Prevent cholera. This disease is spread by vomit and the faeces of infected people. Clean everything that the sick person gets dirty with chlorine bleach. Boil the clothing of the sick person before washing it. Do not put the clothes of the sick person with the clothes of the rest of the family. Avoid spreading the disease.
Acknowledgements
This script was created by the Ministry of Health, Costa Rica
We would like to thank Efrén Hernández, a volunteer with the Farm Radio Network, for bringing us these spots from a workshop on cholera presented by the Ministry of Health in Costa Rica