Red Cross moves to fight cholera in Nkhotakota

Malawi Red Cross Society has moved in to contain the spread of cholera in Nkhotakota District.

Nkhotakota, which becomes the latest district to register cholera cases after 11 other districts in the country, has registered 23 cases and three deaths since August 17 2022.

To contain the further spread of the outbreak, Malawi Red Cross Society has erected a tent at Kasitu Health Centre in the district where patients are receiving treatment.

Speaking on Saturday when he visited the health facility to appreciate the situation, Malawi Red Cross Society secretary general MacBain Kanongodza said they learned that there was shortage of healthcare workers to handle the situation.

“We have also learned that there is need for more tents to accommodate patients. We have deployed our team to help contain the further spread of the pandemic,” he said.

Nkhotakota district integrated disease surveillance response coordinator Lilian Chimbayo appealed for more support, including isolation tents for cholera patients and resources to conduct sensitisation meetings in lakeshore communities on hygiene practices.

She said some people, who recently visited Tukombo in Nkhata Bay, presented symptoms of cholera and they later tested positive upon examination.

Meanwhile, Minister of Health Khumbize Kandodo Chiponda has said cholera is one of the easiest diseases to control as it is preventable.

She said this on Thursday when she visited a cholera treatment camp at Tukombo Health Centre in Nkhata Bay District.

“My ministry will do everything possible to contain the situation,” she said.

On her part, Minister of Water and Sanitation Abida Mia, who accompanied Chiponda, said her ministry will deploy water bowsers in villages most hit by cholera and fast-track the drilling of boreholes.

As of Saturday, the country had cumulatively registered 1 434 cholera cases and 55 deaths.