Africa-Press – Malawi. The cholera outbreak amongst us Malawians seems to overshadow the COVID-19 pandemic which was recorded in April, 2020. As of 4th February, 2023, Malawi had registered 1,226 deaths with 1,090 patients admitted in treatment units. Cumulatively, 37,479 cases of cholera have been recorded since March last year.
The cholera outbreak caused a delay in the opening of the second term in the country’s primary and secondary schools in the cities of Lilongwe and Blantyre.
The term opened on January 3. The schools in the two cities had to wait until all measures were put in place to break the transmission cycle; the easy spread of the disease due to unhygienic conditions.
The schools were told to open after two weeks from when the rest opened. The good news now is that coordination between teachers and parents has led to a successful fight against cholera. This is according to Blantyre Urban Education Office.
Blantyre Urban District Education Manager, Anita Kaliwu, disclosed this at Chitsime Primary School in Ndirande where Precious Medical International donated over 1,000 bottles of chlorine in support of the fight.
“We disinfected the classrooms, made sure that toilets are clean, washing facilities are available in addition to a special sensitisation campaign on cholera vaccine emphasising that prevention better than cure,” remarked Kaliwu.
Chief Executive Officer for Precious Medical International, Dr Gertrude Mateyu, said her medical insurance company felt obliged to support Chitsime Primary School in the fight against the cholera outbreak.
“We discovered that there was an area where we could play a part which was provision of chlorine to affected households. We felt that intervention at household level was crucial in the fight against this cholera outbreak,” said Dr Mateyu.
But as the country continues to grapple with the cholera outbreak, it is very vital that we should constantly remind each other that COVID-19 is still with us.
It is disappointing to note that some people are still resisting getting the vaccine for COVID-19. There are a lot of misconceptions surrounding the COVID-19 vaccine.
It should be clearly stated here that the government of Malawi cannot allow its citizens to be harmed by vaccines in the country. The Pharmacy Medicines Regulatory Authority (PMRA) established by the Act of Parliament which is responsible for product registration, inspection and quality control of all drugs and medicines including vaccines makes sure that Malawian citizens are subjected to vaccines that will save their lives other than destroying them.
Therefore, it is very wrong to think that vaccines received when one is old are aimed at decreasing the Malawi population by making people sterile or by ensuring that they die after some years.
Medical expert Monalisa Tembo observes that some citizens questioned the short period of time in which COVID-19 vaccines were developed and got ready for administration on human beings. She says people should not forget that the world is technologically advancing.
“The speed in COVID-19 vaccine development is a result of advances in genetic makeup deciphering due to modern technology, past research, the spread of the disease and public attention to science. People should therefore not panic at all when they think about the COVID-19 vaccine,” emphasises Tembo.
All stakeholders should therefore vigilantly do their part to make sure every citizen understands the importance of getting both the COVID-19 vaccine and the Cholera vaccine in addition to other vaccines that the Ministry of Health administers in the country.
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