Maputo, 2 May (AIM) – The average number of new cases of cholera diagnosed in Mozambique fell by about 600 a day between the first half of March to late April, according to Health Minister Armindo Tiago.
Speaking in Maputo on Tuesday, at the start of a four day international meeting on cholera, Tiago said that since the start of the current outbreak in September, the disease had spread to all the provinces. Over 29,000 cases of cholera had been diagnosed, of whom 127 had died.
This was the worst cholera outbreak in Mozambique for the past 20 years. Factors that had caused the resurgence of cholera, said Tiago, included “the negative impact of extreme climatic events, which degrade sanitation and affect access to drinking water, associated with the great mobility of people, as well as aspects of a socio-cultural nature”.
One of the strategies used by the Health Ministry, as from February, was mass vaccination against cholera. Over two million people were vaccinated in Niassa, Tete, Zambezia, Sofala, Manica and Gaza provinces. Tiago was sure that this campaign was largely responsible for the sharp decline in the number of new cholera cases.
But this decline was no reason for complacency. The epidemiological surveillance system must be maintained, said Tiago.
“Now is not the time to lower our guard”, he stressed. “There are still important foci of disease transmission in various parts of the country”.
Tiago added that later this year his ministry may submit to parliament a National Plan of Action for the Elimination of Cholera. “This is an ambitious plan”, he said, “which intends to consolidate the multi-sector and preventive approach to cholera. Implementing the plan will demand the involvement of all key sectors”.
(AIM)
Pf/ (292)
