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MSF respond to the worst cholera outbreak in Malawi in 20 years

With more than 31,000 people confirmed as having cholera so far and more than 1000 deaths, the current outbreak is the biggest that the country has known in 20 years. This can be probably explained by several factors, the first one being the absence of preventive cholera vaccination in Malawi in the last years while the disease is endemic in the country, in a context of global shortage. Compounding factors include low level of infrastructure with health care worker skilled in cholera case management in the country, poor water sanitation and hygiene access in the country since many years, and climate-related issues with the Malawi lake being higher than usual and with floods having occurred last year.

Since 3rd of November, MSF has been supporting the Ministry of Health of Malawi in the response to the outbreak, setting-up Cholera Treatment Units, managing cases of severe and moderate patients, supporting of Oral Cholera Vaccination campaign, supporting with water sanitation and hygiene (WASH) activities, epidemiologic surveillance, community engagement and awareness, capacity building of health care workers in detection and management of cholera cases, donations of medical supplies and items (such as cholera beds, buckets, water guards,…).

MSF maintain its surveillance to respond to the outbreak based on its geographical spread in the country and on the needs expressed by the health authorities, assessing different possibilities for future activities. However, the main challenges to reduce the epidemic trend are the access and preventive targeted use of vaccines, the poor level of case management in the health centers and gaps in terms of water and sanitation in the country.

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