Malawi: Ministry of Health has announced the end of Cholera outbreak in the country on July 10. The government made this announcement after observing that there were no new cases in the country over four weeks.
This means that the transmission chains of the disease have been fully interrupted due to the interventions by healthcare stakeholders. The Cholera outbreak started in late 2022, and declared as a National health Emergency in December 2023 and has been downgraded from the status of a national emergency since August 5, 2023.
However, Ministry acknowledged that the rare cases continued to be reported in high-risk districts. As a result, the administration was motivated to continued surveillance and control measures.
Secretary for Health, Dr Samson Mndolo, thanked all stakeholders of the country’s healthcare structure for their contribution towards combating cholera. Therefore, he acknowledged and hailed their efforts in fighting the outbreak.
“We will continue to be vigilant and support multi-sectoral Cholera prevention and control interventions to ensure that any upsurges of diarrhea diseases are timely identified and controlled,” he said.
Community Health Ambassador, Maziko Matemba called on the government to ensure availability of services for the needy. They want the support of the government to sensitize the public about the deadly disease to avoid future recurrence.
The outbreak which started in late 2022 was one of the deadliest waves of the cholera infections. The outbreak caused significant loss of life in the country, which prompted quick and strict actions from the administration.
The people of Malawi are extremely happy to see that the outbreak is over and that the nation has been declared free of Cholera. After the announcement, some citizens expressed relief in the fact that the outbreak was over, saying that it was a challenging time.
They thanked the stakeholders who played a significant and crucial role in managing the spread of the disease. Even though the outbreak has been declared over, the Ministry of Health has cautioned people to remain alert.
The ministry officials have asserted that the communities should continue to observe precaution and take preventive measures.