MPs want action on cholera outbreak
Members of Parliament (MPs) on Friday told the Ministry of Health and Population to step up its efforts to address the cholera outbreak in the country instead of making comparisons of the situation with other neighbouring countries.
As of February 9, 2018 according to a statement Minister of Health and Population Atupele Muluzi delivered in Parliament, the country had recorded accumulative 420 cases of cholera resulting in six deaths.
Dedza East MP Juliana Lunguzi, who is also chairperson of the Parliamentary Committee on Health, questioned why the government is comparing the current situation with other countries.
“We should be focusing on issues of sanitation and hygiene. We don’t have enough boreholes in most constituencies and I don’t know how much the Health Surveillance Assistants are being used to prevent the spread of this cholera,” he said
In a statement delivered in Parliament on Friday, Muluzi said the current situation is better than in other countries like Zambia and Tanzania, the worst hit African countries.
He said in comparison Zambia has seen over 3,200 cases of which more than 3,000 have been in Lusaka resulting in over 74 deaths and in Tanzania they have seen over 4,000 cases with 99 deaths.
“I think the comparison is very important because cholera is a communicable disease and with our porous borders, it’s extremely important to know what is happening in the region. At the moment cholera is widespread that’s why World Health Organisation is providing response,” Muluzi said
Just after delivering the statement, another MP, Lobin Lowe of Lilongwe Central, also asked the government to quickly close Area 38 dumpsite, which he said is contributing to the spread of cholera in his constituency.
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