Malawi’s deadliest cholera outbreak on record has killed over 1,000 people, despite the fact that the number of patients has risen to 30,621, according to health minister Khumbize Chiponda.
According to the World Health Organization, the death toll released on Tuesday surpassed the biggest documented outbreak, which killed 968 people between 2001 and 2002. (WHO).
Chiponda on Wednesday called on people to take extra care handling the bodies of cholera victims before funerals.
“People who are dying from cholera may be washed by family members who then prepare funeral feasts… outbreaks of cholera commonly follow these feasts,” she said.
Chiponda also recommended people to use chlorine and plastic body bags for adequate disinfection procedures.
The majority of the deaths were in Lilongwe and Blantyre, the two main cities, where students have just started going back to school after the closure of several institutions in an effort to stop the spread.
Around 100 people typically die each year from cholera in the southern African nation during the rainy season, which lasts from November to March. But in 2022, there was an unexpectedly large increase in contaminations during and after the holiday season.
In order to expand its immunization program, Malawi got approximately three million doses of oral cholera vaccine from the UN in November 2022, but the number of cases is still on the rise.
Health ministry spokesman Adrian Chikumbe told AFP that all doses had been used.
He added that: “the fact that there is only one cholera vaccine manufacturer worldwide makes it difficult to acquire the life-saving drug, creating competition between countries in need.”
George Jobe, director of the nonprofit Malawi Health Equity Network, told AFP news agency that myths and misinformation spreading online were worsening the already dire situation.
“Most people don’t believe we have cholera,” he said. Additionally, “some religions do not permit their [sick] members to go to the hospital.”
In September, the WHO warned that after years of decline, there was a “worrying upsurge” in cholera outbreaks globally, with climate change adding to traditional triggers such as poverty and conflict.
The disease affects between 1.3 million and four million people worldwide each year, causing up to 143,000 deaths.
Source: Aljazeera News
