It is heartwarming to see that despite the onset of the rainy season, there have not been reports of cases of cholera. This is unlike previous rainy seasons, which have been characterised by reports of cases and deaths on cholera, with outbreaks that have been prolonged in recent years.
But this status should not make us rest on our laurels. If interventions are not put in place to have the local population continue practicing good hygiene and sanitation and using clean water, the country may be in for another severe cholera outbreak.
Cholera is a serious but preventable disease. Public health experts have pointed out that major risk factors for cholera infection are related to unsafe drinking water and latrine hygiene. It is sad that Malawi continues to grapple with such challenges, with most communities lacking latrines. In the lakeshore districts, some people use the lake as a toilet on one side as others use the same resource for household use, including drinking. No wonder we have persistent hygiene-related challenges such as cholera.
But this should not be the responsibility of government alone. Communities, starting from the household level should care about their families’ well-being, instead of looking to government and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) to provide all the solutions to their problems. No wise parent would ignore basic measures like boiling drinking water before use, building a pit latrine for their household just because they expect government to provide water guard and other supplies.
In Malawi, access to water is no longer a big challenge. Besides the natural water bodies, NGOs have constructed boreholes in most communities that have no piped water, making it more accessible even in remote villages. What remains is for households to ensure that the water is clean and safe for their consumption.
But perhaps this may not be true for those living in slums that may be exposed to cholera due to sheer lack of access to water. This is where serious governmental interventions need to come in. For such peri-urban residents, who normally depend on communal water sources such as water kiosks, the challenge could be compounded in that where they have no disposable cash to pay for the water, they may not access the commodity. This is probably why cholera is called a poor man’s diseases, one hardly hears of cholera outbreaks in rich economies.
Therefore, if we consider the cost of diseases like cholera outbreak on the economy, there is some serious work to be done to prevent another outbreak. Community sensitisation efforts need to continue, and so should efforts by responsible authorities to increase access to clean water for as many Malawians as possible. Without which, we will continue as a country to spend valuable resources on treating the disease, not to mention the economic loss that comes with people nursing their illnesses when they should be engaging in economic or development activities.
And the cost is not just monetary. When water is not piped straight to the home, the burden of collecting it from distant places disproportionately falls on women and girls. It is women and girls that pay with their time and energy, which could have been invested in other things such as school and income-generating activities.
Water is a basic need and a human right. It is unfair that populations have to endure cholera outbreaks due to lack of access to water. Women and girls, too, should not have to spend much of their time searching for water.
Sustainable Development Goal number six calls for universal and equitable access to safe and affordable drinking water by 2030. Let us step up efforts in ensuring increased access to clean water for all citizens to beat cholera, and poverty.
