President Lazarus Chakwera has declared cholera a public health emergency and has subsequently ordered the Presidential Task Force on Covid-19 to take up the coordination role in the cholera fight.

The declaration coincided with the country recording 21 cholera deaths in two days, the highest record since the onset of the outbreak in March this year.

In an interview yesterday, Presidential Task Force on Covid-19 co-chairperson Dr Wilfred Chalamira Nkhoma said his team will spearhead the coordination in the fight against the outbreak.

A cholera treatment centre in Nsanje

He said: “We will have the power to go to any ministry to supervise, other than leaving the whole responsibility to one ministry [Ministry of Health] which may find it difficult to coordinate the fight in other ministries.”

Chalamira Nkhoma said the task force, among others, will ensure that the National Cholera Response Plan is followed by all players.

The six-point plan unveiled on October 4 this year is expected to cost taxpayers about $20.6 million (about K21 billion).

It includes priority interventions from a national perspective and detailed district plans to eradicate cholera.

Chalamira Nkhoma said: “The task force will, therefore, monitor the actual implementation of the plan, advise on police decisions, look at various policies and strategies, as well as mobilising additional resources outside the budget and monitoring and tracking utilisation of the funds.”

An update from the Ministry of Health released yesterday shows that cumulatively, the total number of cases and deaths is now at 12 556 and 363 respectively.

The surge is happening barely two weeks after the Ministry of Health vaccinated 2 055 811 people against cholera out of the targeted 2 870 641, representing 71.6 percent coverage.

Lately, Lilongwe City has become the latest hub of cholera outbreak.

Minister of Health Khumbize Kandodo-Chiponda, who visited Bwaila Hospital in the city, last week warned that the situation could worsen if residents do not adhere to preventive measures.

She further expressed concern over private hospitals continued referral of cholera cases to Bwaila and other public health centres, thereby exerting pressure on public facilities

In a statement issued last month, the World Health Organisation indicated that the upsurge in the number of cholera cases in Malawi during the dry season means that the rainy season poses the threat of the disease further spreading nationwide.

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