Government fights for cholera-free season

The Ministry of Health says it targets to have a cholera-free season this rainy season across the country just like other districts have experienced in the last years.

All the districts in the Northern and Central regions and some in the Southern Region, such as Balaka, Mulanje and Neno have experienced cholera-free season in the last few years.

Health ministry spokesperson Henry Chimbali said the ministry is working hard to achieve the goal.

“We can’t say by how much we want to prevent cholera cases, but our target is to have a cholera-free season just like other districts have experienced in the last years,” he said.

Chimbali nonetheless said hospitals are ready to manage cholera cases in an event of an outbreak. But he insisted due to trends of the past few years, Malawi is doing well in cholera prevention.

He said Malawi is winning the battle against cholera because the ministry emphasises on public education on proper hygiene.

Chimbali also said the ministry has intensified community education on construction and utilisation of toilets to avoid unsafe disposition of human waste which may help spreading cholera-causing germs.

He also said the ministry will make sure the water being used in households is safe by providing chlorine to be applied in the water.