Govt moves on cholera, Covid-19 prevention

Ministry of Health says it will integrate Covid-19 vaccination into primary healthcare services and routine immunisation systems and intensify cholera control measures in hotspot districts.

Addressing the press on the status of Covid-19 and cholera in Lilongwe yesterday, Minister of Health Khumbize Kandodo Chiponda said this is in line with World Health Organisation (WHO) guidelines and the ministry is already moving towards that direction.

She said government will also be prioritising giving Covid-19 vaccinations to high risk groups as well as rebuilding and strengthening health systems, including immunisation services which were negatively affected during the peak of the Covid pandemic.

Chiponda, who is also the Presidential Task Force on Covid-19 and Cholera co-chairperson, said: “In light of this guidance from the World Health Organisation on the Future of Covid-19 Vaccine Delivery Partnership [CoVDP] and partner support for Covid-19 vaccination to countries, the Ministry of Health through the Expanded Programme on Immunisation, is actively implementing the recommendations.” 

She said the ministry together with relevant ministries, departments and agencies, is in the process of updating a National Covid-19 Preparedness and Response Strategy and the National Vaccine Deployment Plan, both of which will integrate the Covid-19 vaccine and other primary health care services with special focus on defined high-risk populations.

On cholera, Chiponda said 26 out of the country’s 29 districts have managed to contain it, with Chikwawa, Mangochi and Zomba districts still reporting sporadic cases.

Since the cholera pandemic started in March last year, 58 982 cases were registered resulting in 1 768 deaths nationwide.

The WHO recently declared that Covid-19 is no longer a public health emergency of international concern, but in her briefing, Chiponda said lifting of the emergency status of the pandemic does not mean that Covid-19 is over.

As of August 14 2023, the daily reported Covid-19 cases and deaths in the country were close to zero while there have been no recent hospitalisations or deaths over the last four months.

Cumulatively, the country has reported 88 835 cases and 2 686 deaths.