The United Nations is boosting support for the response to victims of flooding and Cyclone Freddy in Mozambique. The fight against cholera is the new challenge, after the extreme event that devastated vast areas of the country twice.
In Zambezia province, about 600 cases of the disease and acute diarrhoea have been diagnosed since February. Eight people have lost their lives due to the outbreak and more than 250 patients have been hospitalised.
Speaking to UN News in Maputo, the resident coordinator, Myrta Kaulard, reiterated support for the authorities’ plans to minimise the situation. Meteorological authorities are monitoring the movement of the still active cyclone.
“Mainly water purification, hydration of people and allocation of antibiotics. The stock we have is very low, the Ministry of Health was incredible in doing a cholera vaccination campaign during the floods. About 719,000 vaccines were administered during the floods, the country has 1.4 million vaccines, but the important thing is more needs to be done.”
The humanitarian chief in Mozambique highlighted some areas in which the amount will be applied, which include agriculture and food.
“This US$10 million that we received from the United Nations emergency fund is going to be used to mobilise water supplies, sanitation, health, tarpaulins for shelters, also seeds and food, because another huge problem is that all these floods have destroyed a lot of fertile land that was ready for harvest. We are talking about many families who have lost their harvest.”
In addition to cholera, a possible third wave of heavy rains is also a concern for humanitarian partners.
” We have not yet seen the full impact of Cyclone Freddy. More than 200 mm of rain in one day, this is the amount of rain corresponding to a month. We are doing a lot of advocacy for partners, be it also development collaborators to support in the immediate recovery so that the country can continue its path to sustainable development.”
The UN chief cited that the reduced number of human losses is due to collaboration between the National Institute of Meteorology, Inam, and the National Institute for Disaster Risk Management and Reduction, Ingd. Mozambique had about two dozen deaths during the cyclone.
“So far we have not seen much loss of life. The country has the technical skills and capabilities to work with satellite images and anticipate the impact of cyclones with a very high accuracy, they then allow Ingd to inform all the populations in these areas can be evacuated to shelters and then wait until the weather returns to normal.”
Data from the National Institute for Disaster Risk Management and Reduction, Ingd indicates that more than 38,000 hectares of farmland were lost, while another 179,000 hectares of farmland were flooded.
The National Institute for Disaster Risk Reduction and Management, Ingd, indicates that Zambézia province is the most affected with about 211,000 people. The second highest number of victims was in Sofala with 33,400 people.
UN News
