Mozambique: Containing cholera cases after surge in country’s north

06/02/2023

Mozambique

Doctors Without Borders teams are working on increasing the capacity of Lichinga Provincial Hospital’s existing Cholera Treatment Centre (CTC) to 50 beds. Our teams are also reinforcing health promotion messages, carrying out hygiene product distributions and donations, conducting training for health professionals on treatment, as well as increasing infection prevention and control (IPC) measures. Mozambique, 2023. © MSF

In Niassa, according to the Ministry of Health, more than 1,400 cases and 13 deaths have been reported between mid-September 2022 and January 2023 in the five affected districts: Lichinga – where the provincial capital is located – Lago, Mecanhelas, Mandimba and Sanga.

Doctors Without Borders teams are working on increasing the capacity of Lichinga Provincial Hospital’s existing Cholera Treatment Centre (CTC) to 50 beds. Our teams have also supported the installation of a CTC in Meponda, a town near the provincial capital. We are also reinforcing health promotion messages, carrying out hygiene product distributions and donations, conducting training for health professionals on treatment, as well as increasing infection prevention and control (IPC) measures.

“The occupancy rate in the CTC in Lichinga Hospital these past weeks has always been above 15 beds and we have had up to 50 patients admitted”, says Sara Miro, Doctors Without Borders medical coordinator. “However, we are seeing less patients die over the last days.”

Doctors Without Borders teams are also working on a community-based strategy to reinforce hygiene measures and detect people with suspected cases of diarrhoea at an early stage.

“In order to reach more people, our teams are working with existing local community groups and committees, visiting areas that have reported a high number of cases and set up tents to treat patients in Lichinga town”, says Miro.

How do we set up cholera treatment centers?

Cholera response in other parts of Mozambique

In the province of Nampula, as part of an emergency preparedness measure, we are pre-emptively helping set up a 25-bed CTC in Angoche district. In the country’s capital, Maputo, Doctors Without Borders has trained local health professionals on IPC measures.

At the national level, we have donated to the Mozambican Ministry of Health medical items, such as patient rehydration drugs, over 24,000 bottles of a water purifying solution, and 1,500 tablets of chlorine, to be used mostly in the provinces of Niassa, Zambezia and Sofala, where cases have also been reported.

In addition, we are reinforcing training and IPC measures throughout Doctors Without Borders projects in Cabo Delgado, Sofala and Nampula provinces.

Doctors Without Borders teams continue to monitor the situation and remain reactive to epidemiological trends and medical humanitarian needs in the country, especially as the rainy season continues.

Doctors Without Borders has been working in Mozambique since 1984 and for more than 30 years has responded to medical and humanitarian needs countrywide. Cholera is endemic in Mozambique. It is highly contagious and occurs in settings without clean water and proper sanitation. It causes profuse diarrhea and vomiting, and without treatment can quickly lead to death by intense dehydration. Doctors Without Borders has a long history responding to cholera-related needs alongside local authorities in Mozambique; Here are a few examples:

1993-2000: Various responses to outbreaks throughout Mozambique’s reconstruction period after the civil war.
2004: A vaccination campaign in Beira.
2015: Epidemiological and treatment support in Niassa.
2017: Outbreak response and a reactive vaccination campaign in Tete, reaching 297,000 people.
2019: Outbreak response in Beira following the vast destruction caused by cyclone Idai.