Salima District Council has intensified cholera preparedness amid rising cases of the outbreak in the country.

The preparedness, which includes training nurses, clinicians as well as health surveillance assistants in cholera management, comes after neighboring Nkhotakota district registered 36 cases and three deaths. 

Speaking on Wednesday during a Public Health Emergency Medical Countermeasures meeting, Salima district environmental health officer Noel Khunga said it was important to prepare for the eventuality.

A cholera treatment centre
in Nkhata Bay District

“Procurement of drugs for treatment is underway both at the district hospital as well as other facilities,” he said.

Khunga asked non-governmental organisations to work with the district hospital in buying sanitary facilities and drugs.

“We are also implementing sanitation interventions in communities because cholera can be easily prevented through good personal hygiene,” he said.

Salima district fisheries officer Patrick Zakeyo said they will cooperate with the Department of Health to prevent the infection in the district’s 57 fishing sites along Lake Malawi.

“We have heard that some fishers from Nkhata Bay, Mangochi and Nkhotakota have suffered from the disease. We will ensure that hygiene standards are adhered to,” he said.

In a separate interview, Traditional Authority Kalonga also asked communities to observe personal hygiene.

“I urge people to have toilets, keep surroundings clean and treat drinking water with chlorine,” he said.

The World Health Organisation and Unicef, in a joint statement on Wednesday, said there is urgent need for positive hygiene practices.

In the statement, Unicef Malawi country representative Rudolf Schwenk said the effects of the larger outbreak is likely to affect the health system in Malawi.

“The impact of the larger outbreak will overwhelm the already over-burdened public health services and healthcare delivery systems in the country,” he said.

A Salima resident Joyce Maganga has hailed the District Health Office for the preparedness.

“Being a tourism district, cholera will scare away visitors,” she said. 

Cholera is an acute diarrhoea illness caused by infection of the intestine with vibrio cholera bacteria.

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