Blantyre DHO embarks on extensive cholera prevention campaign

Communities in Mbayani line up to receive chlorine ( pic by Solister Mogha)

Blantyre District Health Office (DHO) has embarked on a week-long mass cholera prevention campaign targeting cholera hotspot areas of the district, authorities have confirmed. 

Blantyre District Health Promotion Officer, Chrissie Banda said the campaign, which started Friday, December 29, 2017, was intended to raise awareness, remind residents on the dangers of the disease and its preventive measures.

Banda who doubles as the district hospital’s public relations officer added that although Blantyre did not register any cholera case, chances were high for an outbreak owing to the fact that it was the country’s commercial hub.

“The possibility of being affected by the disease is very likely because Blantyre is a commercial city with people getting into the district from all corners of the country, including Karonga where the disease has been confirmed,” she said.

“Having this in mind, we thought of organizing this campaign so that we remind residents about the disease and the minimum standard hygiene practices to be followed to avoid suffering from this waterborne disease,” Banda emphasised.

Banda pointed out that apart from cautioning against the outbreak in Karonga, the rainy season was also always associated with cholera, hence the need for people to be careful and avoid anything that could predispose them to the disease. 

“Some of the messages we are sharing with communities border on the need to have toilets and pit latrines in their homes, eat clean food in the case of fruits and vegetables, wash their hands before eating any food and use clean and safe water,” Banda said.

During the campaign, the health office is also distributing chlorine to communities for water purification before use in households as a basic preventive measure. 

Meanwhile, Banda has appealed to the private sector and non-governmental organisations to support the initiative by among other things, supplying the DHO with more chlorine whose stock, she said, was running out.

Mbayani, Zingwangwa, Chirimba, Ndirande and Bangwe are some of the areas that have been earmarked for the massive campaign. (MANA)