Eight people die from cholera outbreak in Malawi

Eight people have died from an outbreak of cholera in southern Malawi, where flooding has increased the risk of contracting the disease, the health minister said on Tuesday.

Floods in Malawi and other southern African countries have displaced thousands of people and increased the risk of water-borne diseases through contaminated water.

"Floods are worsening the situation because in rural areas people are unable to satisfy the most basic human needs like hygiene, proper sanitation and safe drinking water," Health Minister Marjorie Ngaunje told Reuters in an interview.

"But we are trying to teach people to wash their hands, boil water and other important information to help prevent the disease."

The southern province is currently experiencing floods which have displaced over 2000 families especially in the rural areas.

Cholera spreads mostly during the rainy season due to floods contaminating water systems. At its most acute, the disease causes sudden watery diarrhoea that can lead to death by severe dehydration and kidney failure.

Ngaunje said there were 291 reported cases of cholera in the past three weeks in the southern part of Malawi, one of the poorest nations in Africa,

"Sadly we have lost eight people in the past few weeks since the outbreak but we are doing everything possible to halt its spread especially in the rural areas," she said.

ECONOMIC REFORMS

Malawi had made some progress in the fight against cholera in the past five years, said the minister.

"In (the) 2001/02 rainy season we recorded 33,546 cases with 953 deaths, in the 2003/04 season we had 959 cases but only 13 people died and in 2006/07 only six people died out of 309 reported cases," she said.

Malawi, with a population of about 13 million, spends about $13 per capita on health annually, far below the $36 recommended by the World Health Organization.

The country is enjoying a modest economic boom that has been sparked by good maize harvests, economic reforms and an increase in aid from Western nations and other international donors.