Mangochi District Hospital in Southern Malawi says it is engaging communities on cholera preventive measures and has also managed to vaccinate about 92% of the targeted population.
Principal Environmental Officer for Mangochi District Hospital Semu Kholola said as a district they expect a very big decrease in cholera cases by the end of February.
“We are trying our best to make sure people are accessing safe water, we are providing 1 percent salt solution to be distributed to the households for water treatment, we are also engaging the communities in making sure that they follow the preventive and control measures in as far as cholera is concerned, we are encouraging them to use water that is safe, to use latrines for defecation as well as disposal of faeces both for adults as well children and we are encouraging hand washing and eating food that is well prepared. So, basically that’s what we are doing in as far as prevention and control of cholera is concerned.
“As a district, we were allocated 185,000 doses of cholera vaccine and we have managed to give to over 170,00 doses to people and I think our coverage is above 92 percent. So we have managed to reach areas that were registering cases,” said Kholola.
Kholola added that as a district in terms of case management they are trying their level best to provide adequate care to save the lives of those that have been affected by cholera.
According to Kholola, despite their effort in the fight against cholera, there is resistance by some communities to adhere to cholera prevention measures and some religions prohibit their members from going to hospital because of their beliefs.
As of 6th February, 2023, Mangochi had registered 7,165 cases and 117 deaths. Currently, Malawi has registered over 41,000 cases and 1349 deaths.
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