LILONGWE, Feb 4 (NNN-XINHUA) — More partners, including the Malawi Red Cross Society (MRCS), are pouring in support to complement the Malawian government’s efforts to contain the cholera outbreak, which has killed over 1,000 people since March 2022.
As of Feb 3 this year, the country has recorded 36,943 cases and 1,210 deaths, with 19,495 cases and 634 deaths recorded since Jan 1, representing 52.7 percent and 52.3 percent of the total number of cases and deaths recorded, respectively.
According to health authorities’ daily updates on the disease, the Malawian capital of Lilongwe has registered most of the deaths.
The Malawian government and several partners continue to step up their efforts while appealing for more assistance from the local and international community.
The MRCS, over the weekend, launched a campaign aimed at sourcing 5.5 million US dollars from its various partners to help in the fight against the cholera outbreak.
MRCS President Innocent Majiya told journalists that although his organization’s volunteers have been on the ground assisting in the fight, “more support is still needed to contain the disease fully.”
Recently, the MRCS also donated cholera management and preventive materials worth 87,600 U.S. dollars to Malawi’s Ministry of Health.
The Malawian government has been appealing to the public and private sectors to support the country in fighting the worst-ever cholera outbreak, and the response has so far been positive, according to health authorities.
In April and November 2022, the United Nations Children’s Fund and the World Health Organization (WHO) supported Malawi with respective batches of 1.9 million and 2.9 million doses of Oral Cholera Vaccine (OCV).
With the outbreak affecting all the country’s districts, Malawi has run out of vaccines at the time the outbreak keeps spiking. Meanwhile, Minister of Health Khumbize Kandodo Chiponda told the local media recently that the government had “placed an order through WHO” for more OCV doses. — NNN-XINHUA
