Bi-Weekly Press Briefing: Cholera And Health Emergencies In Mozambique - WHO

Cholera and other health emergencies in Mozambique multiplied by Cyclone Freddy - WHO

Over a million people across Mozambique’s eight provinces have been affected by the compounding effects of cholera, cyclone Freddy and its floods, polio, Covid-19 and a protracted humanitarian crisis in the north, the UN World Health Organization (WHO) said on Friday.

“The numbers are sobering,” said Dr. Severin von Xylander, WHO Representative for Mozambique. “More than a million people across eight provinces are being impacted by cholera, the floods and Cyclone Freddy.”

The cyclone’s destructive path laid waste to more than 132 homes and displaced 184,000 people. “Mostly closed accommodation centers were opened in many districts and shelter for families in need. In the cyclone destroyed path 163 health facilities were damaged, jeopardizing access to routine care,” the WHO official added.

Storm damage to public services and infrastructure has been staggering, WHO said, after flooding in early February triggered by heavy seasonal rains, combined with the effects of Freddy making landfall – twice - on 24 February and on 11 March.

“The country was hit twice by the cyclone in a matter of days and (is) now receding,” said the WHO Representative. “But access to safe water and sanitation is still challenging and about one third of the crops have been destroyed and cholera cases are being reported from an increasing number of affected districts.”

In the coming weeks, WHO expects that the number of malaria cases will increase drastically and the malnutrition rate – already very high – will go up. Climate change is not a future problem – it’s here and now, Dr. von Xylander maintained.

His comments came as a cholera outbreak continues to spread. More than 132 people have been admitted to cholera treatment centers in the last 24 hours, 350 people have received ambulatory care for cholera. After Freddy hit Mozambique, the number of cases exploded from less than 20 a day to more than 200.

“While the cholera outbreaks regularly occur in Mozambique between October and April of every year with more than 21,000 cases currently and 95 deaths, this is the largest outbreak in the last 20 years,” said Dr. von Xylander. “For example, Manica province bordering Zimbabwe had not seen a case of cholera in the last 15 years.”

A first cholera vaccination campaign took place in late February in four provinces. Over 715,000 people were vaccinated using the single-dose strategy. A second campaign was launched on Thursday in the city of Quelimane – the most affected city - targeting 410,000 people.

“Luckily, the case fatality rate for the cholera treatment center is below the threshold of one per cent which means we are able to save lives,” said WHO’s Mozambique Representative. “I really have to acknowledge the wonderful work that the Ministry of Health is doing, deploying people that at the same time need to look after their families and meanwhile treating people.”

There is also a very real likelihood that the country will suffer a food crisis. An Integrated Phase Classification (IPC) report which describes the severity of food emergencies covering the period between November 2022 to March 2023 indicated that an estimated 3.15 million people in the country face acute food insecurity (2.8 million people in IPC3 and 400,000 people in IPC 4). For northern Mozambique, where there is only one planting season, the crop destruction means that the lean season will last a year. 

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