By William Mbangula OSHAKATI The Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Health and Social Services, Dr Kalumbi Shangula, has cautioned Namibians to be wary of contagious diseases such as cholera. Polio is among the other diseases he mentioned. Speaking at Ogongo College of Agiculture where celebrations on World Health Day took place last week, Shangula cautioned that no single part of Namibia can claim to be free from cholera and other diseases since people from the different regions mingle with each other. “I have just received a report today,” he said, that someone has been picked up at Okahandja and he is among those people who attended the funeral in Ohangwena Region where the incident was initially detected last month. This means people need to take precautionary measures as much as possible.” Shangula confirmed that, so far, 10 people have died as a result of cholera-related illnesses; 17cases were confirmed and 475 people were treated. Asked why the Ministry had chosen to celebrate the World Health Day in the Omusati Region, the Permanent Secretary explained that Omusati was one of the three regions which had experienced problems with the outbreak of diarrhoeal diseases, including cholera, last year. As a result, the Ministry decided to hold the event in Omusati in order to acknowledge the effort of the health workers and the entire community for controlling the outbreak successfully. Diarrhoeal diseases, including cholera, were detected in the Omusati Region at Ombuumbu in the Ruacana constituency last year.