The Society of Physicians in Malawi is urging school authorities to ensure that cholera prevention guidelines are followed to minimize the risk of infections in schools.
The Ministry of Education announced the resumption of classes in some regions on Tuesday and set up, through the relevant ministries, a special team to monitor the spread of the virus.
“We encourage them [les élèves] to wash their hands frequently. We have buckets where we put water [pour qu’ils] wash their hands with soap. We also have disinfectants, chlorine to clean toilets and classrooms. We discourage learners from buying local cooked food. We encourage them to bring pre-cooked food from home.” explained Harriet Mlinde, principal of the Lilongwe Christian School.
The establishments of Lilongwe the capital and Blantyre are affected by the decision to reopen. According to the Society of Physiciansthese two areas considered sensitive could endanger many students, which is why the group pushes the government to encourage their vaccinations against cholera.
“We supported the Ministry of Education on protocols for safe schools on hygiene behaviors – hand washing, access to clean water and today we are symbolically handing over to the Minister of Water and Sanitation WASH (water, sanitation and hygiene) supplies i.e. soap for hand washing, i.e. tablets for water disinfection, buckets , chlorine and other supplies.” said Rudolf Schwenk, UNICEF Representative in Malawi.
Malawi is facing the worst cholera epidemic it has seen in ten years. Nearly 800 people have been killed by the bacterial disease since its resurgence in March 2022.
550 new cases of infection were recorded on Monday alone.
