Quick action prevents spread of cholera

Efforts are underway to mitigate the impact of cholera on ordinary Malawians. The NGO, World Vision Malawi, has announced the establishment of a "core research team in an effort to stamp out cholera", a recurring disease in the country, which "kills many children and the elderly every year". "We must now put our foot down, regarding cholera," World Vision Malawi regional operations manager, Marion Chindongo, was quoted as saying. "It is wrong for virtually all of us in Malawi to regard, and almost validate, cholera as a disease that occurs every year; we need to go back to basics and call it a preventable disease. Therefore, we should fight this disease with renewed vigour, with a view to eliminating it altogether, at least in World Vision projects." The eight-member research team began its work last Friday as news emerged that 77 cholera cases and one death had been reported - all of them from the southern district of Machinga. World Vision said the team was "keen to learn if, and how, food security is connected to cholera epidemics". The team plans to conduct its research in the Nayuchi area of Machinga district. Efforts by the government and World Vision had already helped to mitigate the impact of the cholera outbreak in Machinga, the development agency said. Some 400 kg of chloride of lime (HTH), an anti-cholera drug for treating polluted water, was distributed, with the government-run Namanja and Nayuchi health centres in the area each receiving 100 kg of the chemical. "Apart from conducting community awareness meetings with the government health personnel, the [World Vision] staff also supplied 3,000 sachets of oral rehydration salts (ORS) to four entry points to lakes Chilwa and Chiuta in the area, as the government-run main Machinga District Hospital made Linger Lactate, a frontline intravenous drug, available to the people," World Vision said.