Cholera deaths hit 262

At least 262 people have died of cholera as of Thursday this week, with registered 137 new cases, pushing the number of affected people since the outbreak in March to 8 624.

Minister of Health Khumbidze Kandodo Chiponda disclosed this yesterday in Parliament when she presented a ministerial statement on the cholera outbreak in the country.

She said it is worrisome that the country is experiencing the outbreak during the dry season and that the situation may worsen as the rainy season is fast approaching.

She added that government is concerned as all districts in the country have reported at least a case, and that there is need to control further outbreak.

According to the minister, government has revised cholera response plan by, among other things, scaling up implementation control activities such as prompt treatment of patients close to where cases are being reported so as to minimise movements of cholera patients.

She said government is also targeting to give three million people in flood-prone areas oral cholera vaccine starting from Monday next week.

In his contribution, Mangochi Monkey lawmaker Ralph Jooma informed the House that all health centres in his constituency are overwhelmed, saying 20 cases have been recorded at Mangochi Community Hospital and five people have died.

Public health experts have attributed perennial cholera outbreaks in the country to poor investment in water, sanitation and hygiene facilities.

In an earlier interview yesterday, public health emergency specialist Adamson Muula said it was disappointing that the country is recording an increase in cholera cases despite rolling out a vaccination exercise.

He said many people are forced to continue using unsafe water due to lack of access to safe water and poor hygiene.

Muula, a professor of public health and epidemiology at the Kamuzu University of Health Sciences, said: “Therefore, the Ministry of Health needs to be fully involved and invest in the promotion of safe water and proper disposal of human waste.”

Cholera is an acute diarrhoeal infection caused by ingestion of food or water contaminated with the bacterium vibrio cholera.