By Owen Nyaka:
Vice President of Malawi, Saulosi Chilima, has appeal to religious and traditional leaders to stand up to the occasion and help government to convince their subordinates to access cholera treatment.
He made an appeal during high-level emergency meeting organized by Malawi government with support from the Africa Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the World Health Organisation (WHO) to find solutions for choler-affected countries.
Chilima says despite government efforts to put much emphasis on sanitation and hygiene as crucial elements to contain the disease. Malawi continues to encounter number of social challenges bordering on religious, beliefs, misinformation and disinformation.
“This is the matter of life and death. Don’t listen those misguided characters who preach that drugs or medicines are satanic. The last I checked, doctors, nurses, pharmacists and researchers in the medical profession we all created in the image of God and I haven’t herd any declaration to the contrary. Please ignore such satanic preachers who are the devil’s mentors,” says Chilima.
Africa CDC Acting Director General, Dr. Ahmed Ongwell Ouma said they are committed to working closely with the Republic of Malawi and all other African Union Member States to end this current cholera outbreak. He applaud the frontline healthcare workers, for putting in great effort to end this outbreak.
“We are however saddened that the outbreak is still taking lives in different parts of the continent. Let us make the outcomes of this emergency ministerial meeting be that difference that stops this current cholera outbreak across the continent,” says Ouma.
Amongst others, the two-day high-level ministerial meeting commit to undertake urgent action to facilitate cooperation and collaboration amongst AU Member States for choler, and climate-related public health emergency preparedness, readiness, response, recovery and sustainable control including identifying and implementing priorities for bolstering resilience building, preparedness, readiness, response capacity and maintenance in all high-risk countries.
