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A cholera outbreak in Malawi has killed more than 1,000 people, the Ministry of Health announced on Tuesday (24 January) as the country ran out of vaccines.
The southern African country is battling the worst cholera outbreak on record, with more than 30,600 people infected since the first cases were reported last year.
In November, about three million doses of oral cholera vaccine were received from the United Nations to step up vaccination campaigns, but the number of cases continues to rise.
“We have used up all the vaccines we have,” health ministry spokesman Adrian Chicumbe told AFP.
“The fact that there is only one cholera vaccine manufacturer in the world makes life-saving medicine difficult to obtain,” Chikumbe said. “We are competing for the same vaccine as everyone else.”
tough milestone
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the death toll reached 1,002 on Tuesday (January 23), breaking the largest outbreak ever recorded that killed 968 people between 2001 and 2002. I was.
Cholera, which causes diarrhea and vomiting, is contracted by bacteria commonly transmitted through contaminated food and water.
“What we need is high hygiene and hygiene compliance,” said Chicumbe.
George Jobe, director of the non-profit Malawi Health Equity Network, denounced the myths and misinformation circulating online about the dire situation.
“Most people don’t believe we have cholera,” he told AFP.
Critics say authorities were caught off-guard when the outbreak occurred nearly 12 months ago.
Chief of Preventive Health Services, Storm Kabruji, said the government and aid groups were working to provide safe water and hand-washing facilities. However, he accused several social sections of contributing to the spread of the disease.
“Some religions do not allow their followers to go to the hospital when they are sick,” he said.
In September, the WHO warned that after years of decline, cholera outbreaks were seeing an “an alarming surge” as climate change joined traditional triggers such as poverty and conflict.
If Malawi is the epicenter of the epidemic in Africa, cholera is surging worldwide. In early January, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said 31 countries had reported cholera outbreaks since December, up 50% from the previous year.
The disease affects 1.3 to 4 million people worldwide each year and causes up to 143,000 deaths.
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