The United Nations on Thursday appealed for additional funding to contain a cholera outbreak that is spreading to most parts of Malawi and has claimed at least 58 lives over the past five months.
The cholera outbreak, which was initially limited to the southern part of Malawi when it began in March, has now spread to the country’s northern and central regions. To date, 1,483 cases and 58 deaths have been recorded.
The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the World Health Organization (WHO) called for additional funds to support their interventions to assist the Malawian government to contain and prevent the spread of the preventable disease to more districts.
“The additional support will help ensure that lives continue to be saved and a resilient health system is maintained during and beyond the current outbreak,” WHO country representative Neema Rusibamayila Kimambo said.
UNICEF Malawi representative Rudolf Schwenk said the additional funding would assist the UN agencies to scale up their response and ensure that the outbreak does not overwhelm Malawi’s already over-burdened public health system.
“This will make a big difference to thousands of children and their families at risk of contracting this preventable disease,” Schwenk said.
The additional funding would go towards strengthening the surveillance system for early detection and management of the disease, improving case management at cholera treatment centres, providing medical supplies required to manage cholera cases, and increasing timely community engagement around cholera prevention and positive hygiene practices.
JN/APA