Cholera campaign launches tomorrow
The Presidential Task Force on Covid-19 and Cholera is tomorrow set to launch ‘Tithetse Kolera Campaign’ which aims to interrupt transmission in all districts by the end of this month.
Task force secretariat communications officer Grace Kapatuka on Saturday said President Lazarus Chakwera is expected to preside over the launch at Mgona Community Ground.
She said: “The activities of the campaign are expected to be undertaken in all districts after the launch.”
The time frame of the campaign is from February 13 to March 30 2023 and it is anticipated that the cholera case fatality ratio will be lowered by one percent, from the current 3.26 percent.
According to a concept from the task force, one of the campaign’s objectives is to establish mechanism of coordination for technical support, advocacy, resource mobilisation and partnership at district and local levels.
This is besides strengthening capacity for early case detection and management of cholera cases, enhancing access to safe drinking water and adequate food hygiene, enhancing risk communication and community mobilisation and engagement as well as enhancing coverage with adequate sanitation and hygiene.
The campaign further aims to strengthen a targeted multi-sectoral approach to prevent cholera recurrence where the outbreak has been controlled.
“The Presidential Task force on Coronavirus and Cholera will provide the overall policy guidance and oversight for steering the implementation of this roadmap through sectoral and other plans within and outside the core affected sectors (Health, Water and Sanitation, and Risk Communication and Community engagement),” reads part of the concept.
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Local Government, Unity and Culture has urged district commissioners (DCs) and chief executive officers to lead their councils in the fight against the outbreak.
Secretary for Local Government Esmie Kainja said this in a memo on Friday addressed to all DCs and CEOs.
“After the launch, you [DCs and CEOs] are expected to be in the forefront to fight cholera during the campaign implementation period and beyond,” she said.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) states that the cholera outbreak, which started in March 2022 and has affected all districts, is the largest reported disease outbreak in Malawi in the past 10 years.
The outbreak began in Southern Region districts of Nsanje and Machinga. According to WHO, the most affected age groups are between 21 and 30 years.
Amid an escalating number of reported deaths and cases, Chakwera on December 8 2022 declared cholera a public health emergency and directed that the Presidential Task Force on Covid-19, then, should take charge of all cholera interventions.
As of Friday, 1 349 people had succumbed to the outbreak while 963 were reportedly admitted in treatment units countrywide.
So far, 41 368 cumulative cases have been confirmed.
