Health
Malawi cholera outbreak death toll rises above 1,000
Malawi’s cholera outbreak has claimed more than 1,000 lives, according to the country’s health minister, who warned that some cultural beliefs and hostility toward health workers were slowing efforts to curb infections, AP reported.
Cholera had killed 1,002 people as of Tuesday, while 1,115 people were hospitalized from the outbreak that started in March 2022, Minister of Health Khumbize Kandodo Chiponda said. It’s the country’s worst outbreak of the waterborne illness in two decades.
The country of 20 million people recorded 12 deaths from 626 new cases in 24 hours, she said.
Frustration and suspicion over the rising cases resulted in weekend violence. Angry villagers beat up health workers and damaged a facility at the Nandumbo Health Centre in the Southern Region’s Balaka district.
Residents accused health workers of denying them an opportunity to conduct dignified burials. They forced some health workers to vacate the facility, stoned a cholera isolation ward and forced the discharge of 22 cholera patients.
Esnath Suwedi, vice-chairperson of the Nandumbo area’s development committee, a traditional local authority, said people thought the health workers were acting “mysteriously.”
Suwedi said residents alleged the workers were using contaminated syringes to inject people. The Balaka district is one of the worst affected areas, recording 46 deaths from 1,450 cases in the outbreak.
Cultural burial rites are also becoming a source of contention, Chiponda, the health minister, said during a daily briefing Tuesday.
“For example, people who are dying of or who have died from cholera may be washed by family members, who then prepare funeral feasts for family and friends held very soon after death. Outbreaks of cholera commonly follow these feasts,” the minister said.
Qatar Red Crescent Society on Saturday signed an agreement with the Afghan Red Crescent Society for the treatment of 169 children suffering from congenital heart defects.
The agreement was signed by Mohammad Saleh Ibrahim, Director of Relief and International Development Division at Qatar Red Crescent Society, and Matiulhaq Khalis, the acting head of the Afghan Red Crescent Society.
At the signing ceremony, Khalis appreciated the continuous support of the Qatar Red Crescent Society.
In the past two years, the Afghan Red Crescent Society has referred 3,094 children suffering from congenital heart defects to local hospitals for treatment.
Thousands of other children suffering from the disease are waiting for treatment.
Afghanistan launched a polio vaccination campaign on Monday aimed at protecting around 10.72 million children under the age of 5, the Health Ministry announced.
The four-day campaign will cover 31 of the country’s 34 provinces.
Vaccinations in Ghor, Daikundi and Bamiyan provinces will be implemented later due to recent rains and cold weather, the ministry said in a statement.
“Together with our partners, we are committed to eradicating polio from Afghanistan,” said Dr Qalandar Ebad, the acting minister of public health.
“We will work tirelessly and continue polio vaccination campaigns and complementary health services until we reach the goal of fully eradicating polio.”
The ministry urged religious scholars and local elders to cooperate with vaccine providers to fight polio, a debilitating disease that can lead to paralysis and death.
In December, the World Health Organization (WHO) warned that the repatriation of migrants from neighboring Pakistan has increased the risk of spreading the virus. Since then, Afghanistan has conducted at least three rounds of nationwide vaccinations.
Vaccination campaigns in Afghanistan and Pakistan often face challenges due to conspiracy theories that polio vaccines cause infertility or that vaccinators are spies.
Acting Minister of Public Health Qalandar Ebad, in a meeting with Azerbaijan’s ambassador, Ilham Mohammadov, called for the country’s assistance in improving the capacity of Afghanistan’s health workers.
The two sides also discussed cooperation in the health sector, capacity building of Afghan health workers, and Azerbaijan’s role in the health sector and other issues, according to a statement released by the Public Health Ministry.
Azerbaijan’s envoy said that his country seeks to cooperate with Afghanistan in a sustainable manner in the field of health.
In other news, the foundation stone for the construction of oxygen production facility was laid at the Indira Gandhi children hospital in Kabul.
Officials of the Ministry of Public Health said that the facility will be built with the financial and technical assistance of the World Health Organization, and with the capacity to produce 200 cylinders of oxygen daily to meet not only the needs of the hospital, but also other health facilities.
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