Govt gets K300m sanitation supplies
As the country continues to grapple with cholera, United Nations Children’s Fund (Unicef) has given the Malawi Government sanitation supplies worth K300 million to support its efforts in curbing the outbreak.
A statement from Unicef on Friday stated that they received support from the European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations (Echo) to secure the supplies and charter a special flight to bring them to Malawi.
The supplies include acute watery diarrhoea kits to support health facilities and communities, high-performance tents, compound sodium lactate, doxycycline, paracetamol, and cannulas, among others.
Unicef Malawi representative Rudolf Schwenk said in the statement they will continue supporting the government to scale up its cholera response.
He said: “We appreciate the tireless efforts from frontline health and community workers to manage the influx of cholera cases.
“With 6 269 children already affected and 104 deaths, the spread of this outbreak is a threat to the health and well-being of children.”
The sanitation supplies came into the country at a time the Malawi Government appealed to the public and its partners to join and support the fight against cholera.
In a statement last week, Minister of Health Khumbize Kandodo Chiponda, who is also co-chairperson of the Presidential Task Force on Covid-19 and Cholera, said government needs help to cover gaps in cholera prevention, control and management.
President Lazarus Chakwera declared cholera, which has affected all districts, a public health emergency due to the surge in its cases
