Around 900,000 doses of cholera vaccine arrived in Mozambique to help stave off a possible epidemic, after the devastation caused by Cyclone Idai, amid reports that the disease has already infected more than 1,000 people in affected areas.
The protective measures are to be carried out in four areas: Beira city, Dondo district, Nhamatanda district, and Buzi district, where “basically the whole population there will be vaccinated,” Christian Lindmeier from the UN World Health Organization (WHO) explained.
According to UN Children’s Fund UNICEF, local radio stations have agreed to take part in awareness-raising about the importance of containing the waterborne disease, which is endemic in the region, along with malaria, measles and other preventable diseases.
“We have to, of course, overcome the problem due to limited road access, but more importantly we have to mobilize the population in a vast communication campaign,” UNICEF spokesperson Christophe Boulierac said.
Initially, at-risk communities will be given one cholera vaccine dose, providing protection from cholera for at least six months.
Along with ensuring that the second dose of vaccine is made available later this year, preventing people from drinking dirty water is a key priority, the WHO insists.
Speaking in solidarity with survivors of the disaster, UN Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed paid tribute to the “local, national and international responders” who offered their help “from the earliest moments of this crisis”.
They had saved “countless lives… preventing an even more devastating outcome”, Ms. Mohammed told a meeting of the UN The Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), while also warning while the storm had “flattened thousands of homes” and displaced more than 200,000 people, only $46 million of a $392 million appeal has been provided by the international community to date.
“I call on Member States to bridge this gap”, she said, adding that sustained support would be needed to help the people of the three southeast African nations affected, to cope with the “longer-term development consequences” of Idai.
No region was immune to devastating natural disaster, she noted, calling for better, smarter investment in disaster prediction and resilience, making sure to prioritize those furthest behind.
Original source: UN News
Published on 02 April 2019
