MOZAMBIQUE: Cholera wave ebbs as countermeasures pay off

JOHANNESBURG, 17 February 2004 (IRIN) - Aggressive attempts to control a recent outbreak of cholera in Mozambique have paid off, and aid officials are reporting a significant drop in the number of cases. The World Health Organisation (WHO) on Tuesday confirmed the decrease in the number of admissions to the Mavalane Cholera Treatment Centre (MCTC), the main cholera facility in the capital, Maputo. "At the peak of the outbreak we had 279 admission a day, but now we are seeing on average 55 cases a day," Pierre Kahozi, WHO disease control official, told IRIN. Since the outbreak of the disease in late December, the MCTC has treated 5,989 cases, and recorded 31 deaths. Kahozi attributed the improvement to a number of preventative measures undertaken by the local authorities and the humanitarian community. "There has been a concerted effort to raise awareness amongst communities - a door-to-door campaign which encouraged hygiene has proven to be quite effective," he said. "But also, the adding of chlorine to wells, in addition to the piped supply, improved the situation." A lack of heavy rains over the last two months had also helped to stem the spread, but despite the downturn in the number of daily infections reported, aid officials warned of premature optimism. "We are pleased that there has been a decrease, but the outbreak is not over. At the [Mavalane] treatment centre there are still 186 cholera patients - this indicates that we still have a problem on our hands," Michael Klaus, UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) communications officer, told IRIN. He noted that on Sunday, 24 new cases of the disease were diagnosed in the port city of Beira, in central Mozambique, bringing the cumulative total to 1,101 cases, although no deaths had been reported during the past week. Klaus also voiced his concern over the quality of water supply in Maputo and Beira, the cities hardest-hit in the recent outbreak. "The humanitarian community had to deal with a concrete outbreak and, therefore, we had to embark on preventative measures - but there are ongoing problems with the lack of access to safe water in some communities. Also, more needs to be done to ensure that garbage is disposed of safely," Klaus added. Kahozi agreed that "much needs to be done" to improve the quality of the water supply throughout the country, but noted that this would mean "further investment and commitment" by the authorities to improve social services in general. In the rural areas of Mozambique, 74 percent of the population do not have access to clean water, while 71 percent are not using an improved pit latrine. The situation is marginally better in urban areas, but 60 percent of people still do not have access to safe water.