The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has said that more than 28,000 cases of cholera have been recorded in Mozambique.

Development Diaries reports that the first case of cholera in the current outbreak was reported to the Ministry of Health and World Health Organisation (WHO) from Lago District in Niassa Province.

UNICEF Mozambique Chief of Communication, Guy Taylor, in a briefing on the triple impact of cyclone, cholera and flooding in the country, noted that this was ten times the figure reported at the start of February 2023, and more than half the cases are among children.

‘Case numbers continue to increase, putting children and families at ever more risk. And now, cases of malaria and diarrhoea, other leading killers of children in the country, are also on the rise’, Taylor said.

He noted that this comes at a time when children and families are still reeling from the impact of Cyclone Freddy, which destroyed more than 100 health facilities and more than 1,000 schools, disrupting the learning of almost half a million children.

‘Around 250 water points and six urban water systems have also been damaged or destroyed, cutting around 300,000 people off from clean water’, he added.

The country continues to face the aftereffects of Cyclone Freddy, as it faces its worst cholera outbreak in more than a decade.

According to WHO, an outbreak of cholera has been growing exponentially since December 2022 with geographic spread to new districts.

WHO noted that weak surveillance with late reporting, lack of access to safe drinking water, poor sanitation and hygiene practices, a weak health system and an exhausted workforce responding to multiple emergencies and heavy rains of the season lead to the continued progression of the disease.

It is understood that UNICEF needs $71.6 million to meet its response to cholera and the impact of Cyclone Freddy and flooding in the country.

Source: UNICEF

Photo source: UNICEF