Cholera fight not over yet—Lilongwe Mayor

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ilongwe City Mayor Richard Banda has encouraged residents to continue observing good  hygiene despite a substantial reduction of cholera cases in the country with no new recorded cases in the last two months.

He said this at the Civic Offices Chambers in Lilongwe on Tuesday when Lilongwe Water Sanitation Project donated chlorine and assorted personal protective equipment (PPE) to Lilongwe District Health Office (DHO).

Banda said Lilongwe City Council, through Lilongwe Water and Sanitation Project, has received a K400 million funding from World Bank for cholera prevention strategy.

He said: “The primary focus is on proper solid waste management and faecal disposal at public sanitation and household level, accessing safe water in hotspot areas, enforcement of food by-laws, communication and public awareness.

“We should not say that cholera is over. What we need is support from different stakeholders to maintain the position of hygiene.”

The mayor added that the PPE donation will be channelled towards Pot-to-Pot chlorination and disinfection at household level; hence, names of beneficiaries and locations should be evenly distributed in reports after every activity for transparency and accountability.

The donation included 150 buckets of chlorine of 25 kilogrammes each, 101 heavy duty gloves, 60 cartons of disposable masks, 50 sprayers, 130 pairs of gumboots and 60 pails of 50 litres each.

Lilongwe Water Sanitation Project coordinator Engineer Cleverson Nyondo pledged more support towards the eradication of the disease through various interventions.

Lilongwe DHO director of health and social services Wilson Ching’ani said public health emergencies such as Covid-19, polio and cholera have set a precedence for continued prevention measures.