As the cholera outbreak in Malawi escalates, the number of cases more than doubled in January, with 1,142 cases recorded and 39 deaths. Worryingly, this number continues to rise.
Exacerbated by poor sanitation and rainy-season floods, the outbreak started in the capital, Lilongwe, on 17th November, quickly spreading to two of the capital's densely-populated slums where there is no running water. The disease has now spread to more than 30 percent of the districts in the country, with the highest concentration remaining in and around Lilongwe.
A child with cholera is treated by MSF in Malawi. January 2009.
Photo by Benoit Loop/MSF
“39 people have died from cholera with more than one thousand cases recorded. It’s extremely worrying as the disease continues to spread and numbers mount. Every day the rain pounds down and people with no access to safe water resort to drinking untreated water from swamps or from unprotected wells in slums. As one of the poorest countries in the world, water and sanitation levels are extremely low. On top of this, the floods cause latrines to overflow and sewage then mixes with drinking water”, said Dr. Moses Massaquoi, medical coordinator in Malawi for MSF.
MSF teams are helping to set up special isolation units in the most affected areas in Lilongwe and also installing latrines and donating special cholera beds and plastic sheeting to help with the response. MSF medical staff are also carrying out intensive bedside training and mentoring for national Malawian nurses and assisting them in handling cases to increase their capacity to respond to and contain this outbreak.
Dr. Moses added, “Authorities here are doing their utmost to try and contain the spread, but it is a real struggle. People have forgotten about the disease so it spreads faster. Right now, there aren’t enough health staff in Malawi with the training or experience needed to respond to a serious cholera outbreak. Time is life in a cholera outbreak so it’s essential to act fast, but people are going to clinics too late. Cultural practices are also contributing to the worrying increase in cases as people continue to wash dead bodies before burial, look after and visit the sick, and eat together during funerals.”
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MSF has worked in Malawi since 1986