By Staff Reporter
The Consumers Association of Malawi (Cama) has accused the government of negligence leading to the current Cholera outbreak and high number of deaths.
In a statement, Cama Executive Director John Kapito says among other things, the government is failing to maintain and provide adequate sanitation and quality public health care in most parts of the country.
“Government is aware about the poor quality of health care and hygiene within our communities and markets.
“Our markets are the worst, unhygienic places where sewer spew is the source of water, now they are pretending to be in shock with the many deaths by Cholera as if they are not part of the problems,” says Kapito in a statement.
Kapito has since appealed to authorities including the Ministry of Health and local councils to ban sale of perishable foodstuff such as fruits, vegetables, fresh maize and others from any unregulated places and to work on stopping sewage spills in most markets.
He further calls on the Government to take immediate action to ensure that further deaths are prevented through supply of safe water, good sanitation and food safety controls especially in markets.
According to Ministry of Health, as of December 20, 2022, there have been 13,837 cumulative confirmed cases and 410 deaths of cholera in Malawi since the outbreak began, resulting in a case fatality rate of 2.96%.
Cholera is an acute diarrhoeal infection caused by ingestion of food or water contaminated with the bacterium Vibrio cholerae.
The disease remains a global threat to public health and an indicator of inequity and lack of social development.
