Cdedi, Mhen protest closure of schools
Malawi Health Equity Network (Mhen) and Centre for Democracy and Economic Development Initiatives (Cdedi) have urged authorities to equip schools with information and skills on prevention of cholera instead of closing the institutions.
Mhen executive director George Jobe said in a statement on Monday that while they agreed that the situation is worse in Blantyre and Lilongwe such that the poor management of children in schools can worsen the spread of cholera, the delayed opening of schools should be revisited as children could be safer at school than in residential areas.
He said: “The schools should be made to follow and implement the Ministry of Education’s Standard Operating Procedures with close monitoring by School Management Committees, Parents/ Teachers Association and MoE [Ministry of Education] officials.
“Schools should re-introduce hand-washing facilities with soap. They can use the same buckets that were procured when Covid-19 was at its peak, or procure new ones.”
Jobe further suggested that schools should be equipped with first aid skills, especially on how to make oral rehydration solutions as most people have died of cholera either at home or upon arrival at health facilities due to delayed rehydration.
Meanwhile, Cdedi has condemned President Lazarus Chakwera for casually tackling the cholera outbreak in his New Year Address.
In a statement, Cdedi executive director Sylvester Namiwa said it expected the President to make the announcement on containment measures for schools as was the case with Covid-19.
“Why did the President not make that announcement in his speech? If that would not have been the most important part of the message, what was? His Happy New Year to you all? It’s chaos!,” he said.
Cdedi has since given a vote of no confidence to the Presidential Task Force on Covid-19 and Cholera, saying it has failed the President and all Malawians in the way it has handled the cholera outbreak.
In October 2022, the Ministry of Education released standard operating procedures to prevent further spread of the outbreak in schools.
Among the procedures, the ministry banned selling of food in primary and secondary school premises and urged institutions to be alert and immediately refer to the nearest health facility any cases of watery diarrhoea at an institution.
The ministry’s Principal Secretary Chikondano Mussa reminded the public that despite cholera being a deadly disease, it is preventable; hence, the need to follow all the SOPs which she said were in line with public health protocols as provided by the Ministry of Health.
Prevention of cholera, which is caused by a bacterium called vibrio, is through drinking safe water, proper use of toilets, eating uncontaminated food and proper washing of hands with soap.
The cholera incubation period is between two hours to five days, however, infected people can carry and transmit the bacteria for four weeks.
Symptoms include acute watery diarrhoea, profuse vomiting, profuse ‘rice water’ stools, no fever, no abdominal cramps, and dehydration, including loss of body weight, renal failure and death. Recent data from the Ministry of Health shows that on Sunday January 1, the country recorded a total of 366 new cases and 19 new deaths, bringing the total number of registered cases and deaths to 17 824 and 595, respectively.
