RDP Joins End Cholera Campaign
By: Draxon Maloya
On 13th February this year, Government of Malawi launched the national Tithetse kolera (End Cholera) campaign to curb the outbreak which has caused some devastating effects on the country’s socio-economic development.
The campaign was launched by President Lazarus McCarthy Chakwera at Mgona, one of the cholera hotpots in the Capital city, Lilongwe.
It is for this reason that some development partners have joined government with the provision of services and interventions aimed at curbing the further spreading of the waterborne disease which has already killed 1, 384 people.
On Thursday a non-profit making organization, Rural Development Partners (RDP) donated water filtration systems to Mzimba-North District Health Office targeting six health centers in its catchment area namely: Mapale, Luhomero, Ekwendeni, Choma, Khuyukhuyu and Kaweche.
Speaking after making the donation, RDP’s Executive Director, Daniel Nyirenda said the country is facing its worst cholera outbreak in decades, with registered 42 422 cases and 1384 deaths which is adversely affecting the implementation of one of their thematic areas.
“Cholera is an acute intestinal infection caused when someone consumes food or water contaminated with the bacterium Vibrio Cholerae, it can kill within hours. People living in places with poor sanitation and unclean drinking water are most at risk of contracting cholera hence our donation water filtration buckets,” Nyirenda said.
Commenting on the interventions made by some stakeholders in the fight against the epidemic, a nurse and midwife technician at Ekwendeni Mission Hospital, Ethel Kilembe bemoaned the increase in number of men (males) are vulnerable to cholera which shows some gaps in the male domain to prevention measures.
“Let me thank RDP for the timely donation of water filtration buckets and other stakeholders in the fight against the epidemic which is still recording high numbers of men contracting the disease,” said Kilembe.
RDP is implementing this Cholera awareness project along with other Water Sanitation and Hygiene programmes with funding from Love a Village of Canada.
