Non-governmental organisation Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) has announced that it is to boost the capacity of Niassa’s main hospital in the face of the cholera outbreak that has killed 16 people in Mozambique.
“MSF teams are working to increase to 50 beds the capacity of the Cholera Treatment Centre (CTC) of the Provincial Hospital of Lichinga (Niassa),” the organisation said in a statement.
Doctors Without Borders’ activities are focused on the north of the country, mainly in Niassa province, one of the most affected by the outbreak, with almost 1400 cases of the disease registered since September last year.
In addition to strengthening the capacity of the province’s main hospital, the organisation is disseminating health promotion messages and distributing hygiene products to curb the outbreak.
“MSF teams are also working on a community-based strategy to strengthen hygiene measures and detect suspected cases of diarrhoea from an early stage,” the document added.
Outbreaks of cholera and other diarrhoeal diseases appear seasonally in Mozambique during the rainy season, from October to April, due to poor sanitation.
The Ministry of Health has announced that the number of deaths from cholera in the country has risen to 16 in the current rainy season, with a total of 1,376 cases located mainly in the northern province of Niassa.
The President of the Republic, Filipe Nyusi, expressed his concern over this outbreak at the beginning of January, calling for “redoubling of care”. Cholera and other diarrhoeal diseases are treatable, but can cause death by dehydration if they are not promptly combated.
