A CTC is built on a football pitch. Zimbabwe. January 2009. Photo by MSF
An outbreak of cholera can mean that existing clinics and hospitals do not have the capacity or the materials to treat the amount of people affected. MSF sets up Cholera Treatment Centres (CTCs) using tents and temporary structures wherever there is the space: in car parks or on land and roads next to the clinics and hospitals. These tents can be constructed as an immediate response to need, as soon as cases of infection are reported.
Inside a smaller CTC. Mozambique. December 1997.
Roger Job
CTCs provide medical supplies to focus on rehydrating and stabilising patients.
A woman is treated at a mobile clinic. Sudan. March 2006. Simon Burroughs/MSF
Oral rehydration salts (ORS) and IV drips are used to rehydrate patients. IV drips need to be changed every half hour and can be difficult to administer due to collapsed veins that occur as a result of dehydration.
A patient at an Oral Rehydration Point in a remote township. Zimbabwe. February 2009.
Joanna Stavropoulou
Oral rehydration points are also set up, in more remote areas, as a way of observing and treating patients who cannot get to a larger CTC. They also mean that patients can be treated before their condition becomes critical, taking away the need for a stay at the CTC.
Installing latrines in a CTC. Indonesia. may 2006
Jean-Pierre Amigo
The CTCs also focus on preventing the further spread of the disease by providing sanitation materials. Preventative anti-cholera kits contain items like rubber gloves, buckets, disinfectants, plastic cups, spoons, soap and water purification tablets.
The staff at these clinics include epidemiologists and water and sanitation experts, who make sure there is safe, clean drinking water and build latrines.