The number of people who have died from the cholera epidemic in Malawi rises to six. According to what was announced by the authorities, since last November, the registered cases have reached 434 in the southern African country.
The outbreak was first reported in the border district of Karonga, which has witnessed four of the deaths from cholera. The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) has expressed concern about the rise in cholera infections in the country, urging the authorities to immediately improve hygiene and sanitation measures.
Johannes Wedening, UNICEF country representative in Malawi, speaking to local radio station Zodiak on Sunday, said people need clean, portable water if the cholera epidemic is to be contained. "I go there quite often to see for myself, and what I observed in Lilongwe is that although the population accesses water from the Lilongwe Water Board, there are many people who access water from shallow wells and holes where the water is highly contaminated, ”Wedening said. "As long as people don't change the behavior of using unsafe water, it will be very difficult to contain the cholera epidemic," he warned.
Wedening said the key issues in curbing the epidemic are safe water and good sanitation practices, such as washing hands after bathing and before eating. Malawi's health minister Atupele Muluzi said Friday that the first batch of 216.000 oral vaccines from the World Health Organization is expected to arrive in the country soon and be distributed to around 108.000 people in Karonga, another 450.000 doses are expected to arrive later for. be distributed to other cholera districts in the country. In addition to Karonga, the capital of Lilongwe has also been hit hard by the disease.