Cholera vaccines reach 71.6%

Ministry of Health says preliminary results show that the cholera vaccination campaign reached out to 2 055 811 people out of the targeted 2 870 641, representing 71.6 percent coverage.

Ministry of Health director of Preventive Health Services Dr Storn Kabuluzi said in an interview on Monday that even though the ministry was yet to receive coverage information from all health facilities, the exercise, which started on November 28 and ended on December 2, went on well.

He said: “The figure will likely go up as we are still getting data from the districts. However, we noticed that there are still misconceptions and cultural beliefs which lead to vaccine hesitancy in our communities.

“People need to understand that the vaccines are there to prevent them from cholera.”

According to the ministry’s plan which is based on the burden of the disease in the country, 13 districts were earmarked for the cholera vaccination campaign. These included all the six districts in the Northern Region, Kasungu, Salima, Lilongwe and Nkhotakota in the Central Region and Zomba in the South.

Kabuluzi said the ministry also intends to conduct the exercise in Blantyre and Mangochi which have now reported the highest number of cholera cases in the country.

The exercise in Mangochi will be carried out from December 12 to 16 2022, he said.

Kabuluzi said: “Cholera vaccinations are just additional interventions for cholera control. The World Health Organisation recommends that the main strategies of cholera control remain use of safe water, safe food, good sanitation, including having toilets/latrines and using them, good personal hygiene, especially washing hands with soap after using the toilet, before eating and preparing food.”

He also reminded the public of the importance of rushing to the nearest health facility or treatment centre when they suspect cholera or any other disease.

Since the confirmation of the first case in March this year in Machinga District, cholera has spread to all the country’s 28 districts. However, the outbreak has been controlled in Mzimba South, Ntchisi and Zomba.

As of December 5 2022, there were 142 new cases and one death reported, bringing the cumulative number of confirmed cases and deaths reported since the onset of the outbreak to 11 453 and 332 respectively. Case fatality rate is at 2.9 percent.

Mangochi is leading with 2 589 cases and 50 deaths, followed by Nkhata Bay with 1 473 cases and 42 deaths.

Malawi received 2.9 million dosages of cholera vaccine from WHO.