Cholera no longer national public health emergency in Malawi

By Xinhua

LILONGWE, Aug. 8 (Xinhua) -- Malawi has announced that cholera is no longer a national public health emergency in the southern African country as the recorded cases have kept declining in the past three months.
   Minister of Health Khumbize Kandodo Chiponda made the announcement in a statement Monday, saying the decision is in line with the requirements of the World Health Organization.
   Since February 2022, Malawi had been battling the worst cholera outbreak in the country's history, which forced President Lazarus Chakwera to declare it a public health emergency on Dec. 5, 2022.
   Since July this year, the country has recorded at least five deaths, with the last death recorded on July 28, and 67 new cases cumulatively. As of Monday, the total number of cases and deaths recorded since February 2022 were 58,981 and 1,768, respectively.
   According to the minister, 26 out of 29 districts in the country have controlled the outbreak and the remaining three districts are intermittently reporting less than five cases per day.
   The health minister has, nonetheless, called for continuously implementing cholera prevention and control measures until the outbreak is over in all 29 health districts.  Enditem