4.8m children in need of relief aid

United Nations Children’s Fund (Unicef) estimates that 4.8 million children in Malawi are in humanitarian need largely due to the cholera outbreak.

In his speech delivered yesterday at the Palais des Nations in Geneva and made available to The Nation, Unicef representative in Malawi Rudolf Schwenk expressed concerns on the situation.

He said: “By the end of March, almost a quarter of a million children [more than 213 000] under five years of age are expected to be acutely malnourished with over 62 000 expected to be severely malnourished.

“As a severely malnourished child is 11 times more likely to die from cholera than a well-malnourished child, a bout of cholera may amount to a death sentence for thousands of children in Malawi.”

Schwenk said such crises are stressful for individuals and families, leading to negative coping mechanisms, and increased levels of violence in homes and communities, placing both women and children in vulnerable situations.

Amid all the challenges, the setback has, however, been lack of funds and supplies to assist in controlling the situation.

In view of this, Schwenk appealed for $52.4 million (about K54 billion) to provide life-saving supplies.

“To prevent future outbreaks of cholera, we have to support the country with significant investments in health, water and sanitation infrastructure,” he said.

Meanwhile, the Malawi Ggovernment is from March to 10 2023 expected to host a high-level emergency ministerial meeting for cholera-affected countries at the Bingu International Convention Centre in Lilongwe.

Minister of Health Khumbize Kandodo Chiponda made the announcement in a statement on Monday.

The cholera outbreak, which was declared a public emergency on December 8 2022 by President Lazarus Chakwera, is the largest reported in Malawi in the past 10 years.

As of Tuesday, there were 1 612 deaths recorded while 498 people were admitted to treatment units.

The World Health Organisation states that the most affected age groups are between 21 and 30 years.

The cholera outbreak began in the Southern Region districts of Nsanje and Machinga in March 2022 and has since affected all districts.