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The affected areas include Gaza, Sofala, Zambezia,
Nampula and Maputo City, which has the highest number
of
cases. The Cholera Treatment Centre (CTC) at Mavalane
hospital in Maputo City received more than 500 new
patients over the weekend. Around 300 of the cases were
children under seven years of age. The Ministry of
Health declared a cholera emergency on 9 January 2004.
The WHO and other agencies, including UNICEF, Médecins
sans Frontières, the World Food Programme and the United
States Agency for International Development (USAID) are
supporting local health authorities to contain the
outbreak.
The CTC has received 218 new cases, the highest number
recorded since the start of the current outbreak in
December 2003, the daily paper Noticias reported. With
the death of seven patients the death toll in the
capital has risen to 19,
a situation that the Maputo
health authorities describe as very alarming. Maputo’s health director said that nearly
860 cases were
admitted to the CTC this week, compared
to about 99 the
previous week. During the last outbreak in 2003 such
high figures were only recorded in March, at the peak of
the rainy season. She noted that the situation called
for additional space at the CTC. "At the moment we have
479 hospitalised patients, in wards which have a
capacity of only 300 beds. 12 new tents are being
erected, in order to double the unit's capacity. Five
have been completed and are already in use, and we hope
the others will be ready within a short period of time,
because with the rainy season more cases are expected",
she said. "As for staff, we have requested
reinforcements from Gaza, and we have received five
nurses. Another five are expected within the next few
days to help face the demand.", she added. The Mavalane
CTC has so far treated 2 922 patients.
The central province of Sofala has recorded 61 new cases
over the last 24 hours, including seven in Dondo, the
first in that district. Persistent rains are mainly to
blame for the spread of the water-borne disease. Most of
the cases, 44, were reported in Beira, the provincial
capital, followed by the district of Maringue with 10.
This brings the total number of cholera cases in the
province to 573, with 71 still undergoing treatment. In
Zambezia province, the disease has spread to the
district of Pebane, where the first case was reported on
Monday, while in Quelimane, the provincial capital, 17
patients were admitted during the last 24 hours. The
authorities in Nampula province in northern Mozambique
are expressing serious concern that the lack of clean
drinking water combined with intensifying rainfall will
lead to the spread of the disease. Seven of the eight
patients admitted to the Mucoroge CTC in the province
are still undergoing treatment. The authorities also
fear that the situation could worsen in the southern
province of Gaza where four patients were admitted to
the local health unit in the district of Massingir.
A UNICEF spokesperson said that the cholera outbreak had
prompted the organisation to intensify its preventative
and treatment programmes. With the outbreak affecting
more and more people UNICEF has increased support to
affected locations in close collaboration with the local
authorities, the World Health Organisation (WHO) and
NGOs. "The prevention activities are key to limit the
impact of the current outbreak. UNICEF is also
supporting the door-to-door information campaign by
activists in Maputo City, the provision of posters on
cholera prevention and their dissemination in the
schools of the capital," the UNICEF
representative said. In addition UNICEF is supporting
radio discussions on cholera prevention broadcast by the
Child-to-Child-radio network of Radio Moçambique.
The organisation is also supporting the CTCs in Maputo
City, and in Boane and Namaacha districts in Maputo
Province. As part of its ongoing Emergency Preparedness
and Response programme, UNICEF has been supporting
government institutions to pre-position emergency
supplies, including cholera prevention and response
equipment and consumables, such as water bladders,
chlorine, cleaning tools and hygiene education
materials. These will be used in the affected areas with
UNICEF providing logistical support for their rapid
delivery: A truck has left for Sofala, Zambezia and
Nampula Provinces with 6 bladders and 3 tons of chorine
requested by the provincial authorities. "We need more
health workers and other staff at these centres, and
more support to those already working there, because
they are overwhelmed by the increase of cases", the
UNICEF spokesperson said. UNICEF stated that it is
prepared to extend additional support to the
municipality of Maputo
and other affected areas. |
