4 days without cholera case, death

Public Health Institute of Malawi (Phim) daily cholera updates show that the country has not recorded any cholera case or death between Sunday and yesterday this week, the first time since March 2022.

But public health experts observed that the current cholera status does not mean Malawians should relax, saying there are other factors such as recent water tariff adjustment which can negatively affect the cholera fight.

The Phim daily reports further show that as of yesterday, 19 districts had controlled the disease as they did not register any cholera cases in the previous15 days.

Districts that are yet to be declared cholera-free include Blantyre, Lilongwe, Zomba, Chikwawa, Balaka, Mulanje, Salima Nsanje, Karonga and Mchinji.

Commenting on the statistics in an interview yesterday, epidemiologist Gama Bandawe said there is need to intensify cholera preventive measures to avoid resurfacing of the outbreak.

He said the cholera situation in other southern African countries such as Mozambique and South Africa should also be a cause for worry.

Bandawe, who is head of the Department of Biological Sciences in the Academy of Medical Sciences at the Malawi University of Science and Technology, said: “We are still in the prevalent situation and we need to work hard to increase access to clean water, sanitation and hygiene.

“An increase in water tariffs can mean that there is reduced access to clean water particularly to the low income people. This large price increase is going to make a big difference to those people who were already facing challenges to access clean water.”

In a separate interview, Malawi University of Business and Applied Sciences lecturer Save Kumwenda, said faulted the water tariff hike, saying it will have negative impact in the fight against cholera.

“if we are to completely end cholera in Malawi, people should have access to safe water, have proper toilets and hygiene in all the locations,” he said.

In a statement dated June 6 2023, signed by Presidential Task Force on Covid-19 and Cholera co-chairperson Khumbize Kandodo Chiponda commended health workers and frontline staff for their work in fight against the disease.

She observed that the country’s healthcare workers have shown high level of dedication and hard work.

“I would like to request that this hard-working spirit should continue especially now when we are registering single digit cases, until we defeat this disease. No one is safe until everyone is safe,” reads the statement in part.

Chiponda, who is Minister of Health, and her co-chairperson Wilfred Chalamira Nkhoma were not available for comment on Wednesday as they both did not pick up their calls on several attempts.

As of June 6 2023, cumulatively, the country had recorded 58 721 cases and 1 761 deaths since the onset of the outbreak in Machinga in March 2022.

Lilongwe has reported the highest number with 12 777 cases and 559 deaths, followed by Blantyre with 8 929 cases and 227 deaths and Mangochi comes third with 8 500 cases and 124 deaths.

Balaka recorded 4 408 cases and 103 deaths, Salima has 3 622 cases and 99 deaths, while Rumphi was the lowest with 1 051cases and 17 deaths.