UNITED NATIONS, April 5 (NNN-XINHUA) — Nearly 900,000 doses of cholera vaccine has arrived in Mozambique, a country already hit with more than 1,000 cases of the deadly diarrheal disease in the wake of Cyclone Idai, the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) said.
Mozambique’s Ministry of Health confirmed 1,052 cases of cholera in the aftermath of the cyclone, which made landfall on March 14 near the port city of Beira, UNICEF reported. The vast majority, 959 cases, were in Beira where one death was confirmed.
“The disease is spreading rapidly,” UNICEF said.
The World Health Organization (WHO) said 884,953 doses of cholera vaccine, procured by UNICEF and WHO, arrived in Beira, adding that the vaccination campaign was expected to start Wednesday.
“The procurement of vaccines is one of several approaches UNICEF and its partners are taking to curb the spread of cholera, along with re-establishing water treatment systems and distributing water purification products,” said Michel Le Pechoux, the deputy representative of UNICEF in Mozambique.
“Humanitarian teams are acting quickly to raise awareness in communities about symptoms and prevention methods, including hygiene practices and the important need for the vaccinations, particularly in the current conditions which include stagnant water and overcrowding in temporary shelters,” he said.
Earlier in the week, humanitarian aid workers set up cholera treatment centers in Malawi, Mozambique and Zimbabwe, the three southern African countries hit by Idai. — NNN-XINHUA
