Malawi

Malawi /

GAZETTE REVIEW – By Paoloa Mojica –

Holding a population of 16 million while also being one of the smallest African nation doesn’t set you up for accumulation or distribution of wealth. Arguable the most underdeveloped nation in the world, Malawi suffers greatly in essentially all categories available. Access to education, general standard of healthcare, infrastructure, and quality of living conditions are all limited or substandard. Because the nation is unable to develop in general, they’re for all intents and purposes stuck with trying to drive their economy using only the most primitive levels of agriculture. With common weather variations, as well as injuries and fatalities facilitated by poor health care, Malawi’s world lowest GDP per capita of $399.10 doesn’t seem like it will be rising too significantly any time soon.

Malawi /

Voice of America

By Lameck Masina

Blantyre — Despite a nationwide vaccination campaign that started in May, Malawi is struggling to contain a cholera outbreak that has infected more than 1,073 people and caused 44 deaths.

The figures from the Malawi Ministry of Health, updated as of Aug. 16, 2022, are triple the numbers recorded when the vaccination campaign was launched three months ago.

The report also says the outbreak has spread to 10 districts from eight in May. The hardest hit districts include Blantyre with 489 cases, Neno with 128 cases, and Nsanje with 289 cases.

George Mbotwa, spokesperson for a health office in Nsanje district, which borders Mozambique south of Malawi, said continued incidents of cholera in the district are largely because of movements of people between the two countries.

“What is worrisome is that we have now continued to record the cases when by now we would have contained the situation,” he said. “It’s because some of these cases we are sharing with Mozambique. So, the cases will be coming from Mozambique and then reporting to health facilities in Nsanje, then being recorded as Nsanje cases.”

Mbotwa said the situation is slowly improving, after officials on the Mozambican side agreed during recent discussions to set up cholera treatment sites on their side of the border.

“The Mozambican side by then didn’t have cholera treatment sites, and now they have them there, so people are able to report the cases right there, unlike coming with cases to Malawi,” he said. Cholera is an acute diarrheal infection caused by ingesting food or water contaminated with bacteria. The disease affects both children and adults, and if untreated, it can kill within hours.

Penjani Chunda, environmental health officer in Blantyre, said although Blantyre is largely an urban area, cholera cases are on the rise because most people fetch water from unprotected sources like rivers and streams.

“In most parts of Blantyre, we don’t have portable water sources,” he said. “It might be like an urban setup, but it has no portable water sources, and we have got dry taps in some of the areas and [water] kiosks are not working at all.”

The spokesperson for the Health Ministry, Adrian Chikumbe, said health authorities are currently distributing chlorine for water treatment, and providing public education on good hygiene.

Chikumbe also hopes the second phase of the national oral cholera vaccination campaign, which is expected to start soon in the most-hit districts, will help contain the situation.

Malawi /

drought-617x416

Nyasa Times-

President Peter Mutharika has declared Malawi a state of disaster as floods have hit most parts of the north following continuous rains for close to two weeks and drought in most parts of the south.

Mutharika made the declaration on Tuesday as vice president Saulos Chilima braved heavy rains to visit muddy and slippery areas of 1700 displaced people camps.
The President has done this in accordance with powers conferred upon him by section 32(1) of the Disaster Preparedness and Relief Act. In a statement released on Tuesday April 12, the day on which the declaration took effect.

Mutharika points out persistent dry spells facilitated by El Nino, inadequate or erratic rainfall and destructive floods as some of the factors behind the current state of affairs.
The declaration will help both local and international organizations to solicit aid for the needy.

Mutharika says the floods and drought will force food production to go down by 24 per cent compared to last year and the number of beneficiaries of relief food will shoot up from the current three million people in government data base.

So far six people have been killed and 10 people are in hospitals with serious injuries following collapse of 1080 houses in Mzuzu alone due to heavy rains.
There are also reports of deaths due to hunger related due to drought in some parts of the country but President Mutharika and his government rejects this year.
Informed by expert advice from Ministry of Agriculture officials, the President said Malawi needs just over three million metric tonnes of maize every year but it is projected that next year Malawi will have 2.4 million metric tonnes. This year Malawi had 2.7 million metric tonnes of maize, signaling a 12.5 percent drop in maize production.
He therefore has appealed for humanitarian relief assistance from international donor community, United Nations agencies, NGOs, private sector as well as citizens of goodwill.

Food and governance experts have hailed President Mutharika for his proactive and pragmatic response to seemingly another year of food shortage.

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