Mozambique: Médecins Sans Frontières boost capacity to fight cholera

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Mozambique: Médecins Sans Frontières boost capacity to fight cholera

12:51 CAT | 02 Feb 2023

An MSF team makes preparations at a cholera treatment center. Mozambique 2023 [Image: MSF]

Médecins Sans Frontières (Doctors Without Borders) will strengthen the capacity of Niassa’s main hospital in the face of the cholera outbreak that has killed 16 people in Mozambique, the non-governmental organisation announced on Wednesday.

“MSF teams are working to increase the capacity of Lichinga Provincial Hospital’s existing cholera treatment center (CTC) to 50 beds.,” the organisation said in a statement.

MSF’s activities focus on northern Mozambique, mainly in Niassa province, one of the worst affected by the outbreak, with almost 1400 cases of the disease registered since last September.

In addition to strengthening the capacity of the province’s main hospital, the organisation is disseminating health promotion messages and distributing hygiene products to curb the outbreak.

“MSF teams are also working on a community-based strategy to reinforce hygiene measures and detect people with suspected cases of diarrheal at an early stage.,” the document adds,

Outbreaks of cholera and other diarrhoeal diseases appear seasonally in Mozambique during the rainy season, from October to April, due to poor sanitation.

The ministry of health has announced that the number of cholera deaths in the country has risen to 16 in the current rainy season, out of a total of 1,376 cases located mainly in the northern province of Niassa.

Mozambican President Filipe Nyusi expressed concern over the outbreak earlier this month, calling for “redoubling of care”.

Cholera and other diarrhoeal diseases are treatable but can cause death from dehydration if not promptly tackled.

Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), sometimes rendered in English as Doctors Without Borders, is an international humanitarian medical non-governmental organisation (NGO) of French origin best known for its projects in conflict zones and in countries affected by endemic diseases.

Source: Lusa