Mozambique: More than 300 Cabo Delgado schools not functioning after Cyclone Chido
Mozambique: More than 1.2 million need urgent medical assistance – WHO
7:36 CAT | 21 May 2021
File photo: Lusa
More than 1.2 million people are “urgently” in need of medical aid in Mozambique’s Cabo Delgado province, where attacks by armed groups have “deepened the humanitarian crisis”, the World Health Organisation (WHO) warned on Friday.
“The situation of thousands of families is worsening, and many of those affected by the violence depend on humanitarian aid to survive. We must rapidly scale up assistance to save lives and alleviate suffering,” said WHO Regional Director for Africa, Matshidiso Moeti.
According to the organisation, violence and insecurity have damaged or forced the closure of nearly a third of the province’s 132 health facilities, “depriving communities of basic health services and creating emergency health needs” for HIV, malaria and tuberculosis treatment, as well as vaccination among displaced people and host communities.
Cholera prevention, the response to Covid-19 and the provision of mental health and psycho-social services are also “sorely needed,” according to WHO, which called for increased donor support to “provide these essential health services.”
“There is an urgent need to ensure full access to essential health services in all accessible districts and to establish mechanisms to improve access to health for all vulnerable people in hard-to-reach districts,” said Joaquim Saweka, WHO representative in Mozambique.
The WHO said it was reviewing its response plan, saying it would provide additional human resources and materials to Cabo Delgado and other health emergencies in the country as soon as “additional resources were mobilised”.
The organisation has established three cholera treatment centres and built a temporary health centre to serve displaced people and the host community in Cabo Delgado’s Chiúre district.
It has also deployed 17 staff to the Pemba district and provides essential health supplies, including cholera medicines and trauma ‘kits’.
According to the United Nations, humanitarian needs have increased following March’s armed attacks in Palma district, which forced 52,000 people to flee their homes.
According to the WHO, some $3.5 million (€2.86 million) is needed to provide healthcare to these populations, and $1.77 million (€1.44 million) has been mobilised to support the government of Mozambique and partner organisations in the emergency response.
Armed groups have terrorised Cabo Delgado since 2017, with some attacks claimed by the ‘jihadist’ group Islamic State, in a wave of violence that has led to more than 2,500 deaths, according to the ACLED conflict registration project, and 714,000 displaced people, according to the Mozambican government.
The most recent attack was on 24 March against the town of Palma, causing dozens of deaths and injuries.
The Mozambican authorities regained control of the town. Still, the attack led oil company Total to abandon indefinitely the site of the gas project scheduled to start production in 2024. Many of Mozambique’s economic growth expectations for the next decade are anchored.
The province was also affected by cyclone Kenneth in 2019, which destroyed several infrastructures, including health facilities.
The situation was further aggravated by outbreaks of cholera and measles and the Covid-19 pandemic.
Source: Lusa
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