Guthi, a non-governmental organization in Nepal, launched a cholera mitigation campaign with a slogan of "Build Good Habit, Drink Pure Water" in the assistance of the Nepali government, UNICEF and UN-HABITAT.

Every year, cholera, diarrhoea and other water-borne diseases break out mostly in the rainy season. To prevent such diseases, people should apply the techniques to purify drinking water," state-run newspaper The Rising Nepal quoted experts as speaking at the function organized in Kathmandu on Thursday.

According to the figures from Kathmandu Valley-based hospitals,4,000 people suffered from diarrhoea last year. Among them, 250 people suffered from cholera and five of them died. Most of the victims were children.

"These diseases have been breaking out mainly due to pollution. But we should not keep quiet, we should take initiatives to prevent them," said Dr. Roshan Raj Shrestha, Chief Technical Advisor to the UN-HABITAT in Nepal. The United Nations Human Settlements Program, UN-HABITAT, is the United Nations' agency for human settlements. It is mandated by the UN General Assembly to promote socially and environmentally sustainable towns and cities with the goal of providing adequate shelter.

At the same program, representative Larry Robertson of the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) said, "It is necessary to make people aware and keep the environment to check water-borne diseases."

The organizers said they were going to set up mitigation camps at 75 places of Kathmandu Valley, where the Nepali capital is located, mobilizing their volunteers to distribute chlorine and raise awareness among the people about use of purified water at hotels, restaurants, schools and houses.

At the program, the organizers had exhibited the techniques of water purification, sanitation and management of household garbage.

Director of Guthi Anil Sthapit said, "We will go from door to door to make people aware about cholera and water purification technology."

(Xinhua News Agency September 5, 2008)