8m cholera vaccine doses on the cards
Malawi is expected to receive 7.9 million doses of cholera vaccines to help contain the cholera outbreak which has killed 1 254 people since March 2022.
Speaking in an interview on Monday, Ministry of Health director of preventive health services Storn Kabuluzi said Malawi has submitted a request for the doses to the Global Task Force on Cholera Control after stocks ran out last month.
He said: “We are waiting for feedback from the Global Task Force. The information the ministry has is that many countries have been affected by cholera outbreak and are, therefore, requesting for the vaccines; hence, there is high demand of the vaccines at global level.”
Commenting on the development, health rights activist Maziko Matemba said in the midst of a cholera crisis vaccines are needed urgently.
He said: “The procurement of the 8 million doses will go a long way in saving lives as government has the responsibility of providing services at all times.”
Ministry of Health carried out the third round of cholera vaccination campaign from December 2022 where it reached out to 2 055 811 people in 13 districts.
This followed successful rounds of the vaccine campaigns in May and August 2022 respectively.
