The cholera vaccination campaign that kicked off on Monday in Mozambique is expected to cover 109,129 people in Sofala province, central Mozambique, the authorities announced.
“Today we are witnessing the launch of another campaign against cholera and we hope that the vaccines reach everyone and that we collaborate to put an end to this disease in our communities,” said Maria Almija, administrator of the Maríngue district in Sofala, during the launch of the campaign in that province in central Mozambique.
The district of Maríngue is among those affected by cholera in the province, with at least 500 people currently diagnosed with acute diarrhoea, at a time when the country is going through the rainy season.
“The number of new cases is growing day by day and two deaths have already been recorded [in the province], one in Caia and the other in Maríngue,” she said.
The Mozambican health authorities want to reach more than 2.2 million people in the cholera vaccination campaign in nine districts of the country, the most affected by the current outbreak of the disease.
Cholera is a treatable disease that causes severe diarrhoea and can lead to death from dehydration if not treated promptly.
The disease is largely caused by the ingestion of contaminated food and water due to a lack of sanitation networks.
In May last year, the World Health Organisation (WHO) warned that the world will have a shortage of cholera vaccines by 2025 and that one billion people in 43 countries could be infected with the disease, pointing to Mozambique as one of the countries most at risk in October.
Mozambique is considered to be one of the countries most severely affected by climate change in the world, a situation that aggravates the lack of infrastructure and services to prevent the disease.
Lusa
