Malawi/cyclone: risk of worsening of the cholera epidemic
The devastation sown by the passage of tropical cyclone Freddy in Malawi risks aggravating the cholera epidemic which has bereaved this poor southern African country for more than a year, the Ministry of Health warned on Monday March 20.
>> Cyclone Freddy affected more than 500,000 people in Malawi
>>Malawi extends school closure in areas affected by Cyclone Freddy
| Cyclone Freddy caused severe flooding and deadly landslides in Malawi. |
| Photo: AFP/VNA/CVN |
Even before the cyclone hit, Malawi was battling the worst cholera outbreak in its history, which has already killed more than 1,700 people and infected more than 30,600 in total, out of a population of nearly 20 million.
“With the floods, the toilets were swept away and most people have no access to drinking water“said Storn Kabuluzi, director at Malawi’s Ministry of Health, reporting a “immediate danger“.
Cyclone Freddy, which dissipated this week, caused severe flooding and deadly landslides in the country, where nearly half a million people lost their homes.
“Children are the most vulnerable“in the face of illness, warned Mohamed Malick Fall, UNICEF regional director for East and Southern Africa.
According to the organization, the threat also hangs over neighboring Mozambique, where disruptions in water supply and sanitation services “causes a rapid acceleration in the number of cases“.
Freddy, on course to be ranked the longest cyclone on record, first hit Madagascar and Mozambique in late February.
He then returned to the Indian Ocean, where he gained strength from the warm waters, before turning around and returning to the mainland.
APS/VNA/CVN
