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SouthMalawistillfacingacutemedicalneedsamonthafterthefloods|MalawiNyasaTimesMalawibreakingnewsinMalawi

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South Malawi still facing acute medical needs a month after

the floods
February 27, 2015

Nyasa Times Reporter

Health

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An estimated 140.000 Malawians affected by the floods remain in very high need of medical services in the hard-to-reach Nsanje and East
Bank areas, with cholera representing the most immediate threat, said the medical humanitarian organization Doctors Without Borders
(MSF), currently the only medical humanitarian actor responding on in this most affected district in support of the Malawi ministry of Health
teams.
As of today, 20 cholera cases, one of them
fatal, have been reported in Mbenje, Lulwe,
Nkhande and Ndamera, in the Southern
part of Nsanje district.MSFhas supported
the ministry of Health in setting up small
cholera units in both locations providing,
among others, oral rehydration salts, tents,
chlorine, soap and boots.
Neighbouring Mozambique has already
recorded 2.400 cholera cases, including 28
deaths, spread across three provinces
including Tete province which borders
Malawi. In Tete and MoatizeMSFhas set
up and co-manages with the Mozambican
ministry of health two treatment centres
that currently treat over 100 patients.
Most of the patients admitted with

MSF health worker treating a patient in flood hit areas

suspicion of cholera in Malawi say they

came from Mutarara, a district in neighbouring Mozambique with high informal mining activities. They say that minors there started
developing symptoms and died, prompting the others to flee back to their place of origin. This creates potentially a multitude of sites where
cases could be notified, says Amaury Grgoire,MSFs head of mission in Malawi.MSFhas a stock of cholera kits for2,000 patients in
Malawi, andis prepared to support the setup and running of a larger cholera treatment center if need be.
In parallel the organisation is prepared for potential epidemics such as measles as well as for scenario of high levels of malaria. While no
measles is reported yet, one rubella case has been confirmed and the risk of measles epidemic remains high. ThereforeMSFencourages
and supports the districts and WHO in considering vaccination that would prevent disease and deaths in the coming weeks if carried out
quickly and adequately.
Since January 8thmedical teams co-managed byMSFand the ministry of Health have provided 14.457 consultations, a third of them for
children under the age of five. Half of these consultations account for three main pathologies: 28 per cent are respiratory tract infection, 13
per cent for diarrhoea and 15 per cent malaria, a percentage in line with the normal rate at this season in South Malawi.
cholera

floods

MSF

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