30 admitted after consuming local brew in Ngoma

Doctors have warned Ngoma District residents against consuming homemade alcohol. The warning comes days after at least 29 people were admitted at Kibungo Hospital on Friday after drinking locally made crude brew. According to Dr William Namanya, the Director of Kibungo Hospital, the victims were lucky to survive. “They complained of acute stomachache and diarrhea, we went for fact finding mission in the villages to ascertain the real cause…our findings revealed a horrible state of hygiene in the home of the person who brewed the beer,” Namanya told The New Times on Sunday. “The water they used was very dirty…the brewing was done near a piggery. The pigs were kept in an extremely dirty place and this coupled with how close the pit latrine was, was a recipe for disaster.” “The patients are slowly recovering after intensive medication…but people should be careful as the degree of contamination may worsen in future. It is a health risk that can’t be tolerated”, he said. The Ngoma District Vice Mayor in charge of social affairs, Providence Kirenga, promised to look into the issue of unsanitary conditions. “If steps need to be taken to pursue anyone or any individuals, no doubt the concerned authorities will do that,” she said, when asked whether the beer brewers would be arrested and charged. “There is need for some consideration as to what risk factors were involved here and what needs to be done to protect people in the future.”

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30 admitted after consuming local brew in Ngoma