Machinga District Health Office Establishes Oral Rehydration Points to Combat Cholera Outbreak
The community has intensified their efforts in promoting good hygiene practices, with the support of traditional leaders, in an effort to prevent the spread of cholera.
Malawi: Machinga District Health Office has established four Oral Rehydration Points (ORPs) in local communities to reduce the burden of cholera at the district hospital. One of the ORPs has been set up in the area of Group Village Headman (GVH) Kalonjere, under Traditional Authority Sitola, writes Meclina Chirwa.
In an interview, the Health Surveillance Assistant (HSA) for the area, Charity Mphula, praised the initiative as a crucial step in providing first aid treatment to patients before they are referred to the district hospital.
Mphula said, “We are very privileged to have this ORP right here in the village. You know how cholera has affected us, not only in Machinga district but throughout Malawi. By reaching this point, we will be able to reduce the burden at the district hospital, thereby reducing cases of the disease as well. We have all the requirements, and we will make sure that we give out all our efforts to fight the disease.”
The community has intensified their efforts in promoting good hygiene practices, with the support of traditional leaders, in an effort to prevent the spread of cholera, which is linked to poor hygiene and sanitation.
Mphula stated, “You know cholera is about poor hygiene and sanitation. In this regard, we are focusing much on prevention by promoting good hygiene practices which in the end will enable us not to register any single case in our community.”
GVH Kalonjere shared that his subjects were thrilled with the news and will continue to raise awareness about good hygiene practices in their village and surrounding areas.
He said, “When I informed my subjects about the news, they were very happy considering that we have equally been affected by the cholera outbreak. We will continue raising awareness on good hygiene practices not only in this village but even in other surrounding villages.”
However, the ORP currently faces a challenge with only one toilet available, which belongs to GVH Kalonjere.
The GVH stated, “Indeed, currently we are using my toilet because the initiative is new. However, we will have a meeting soon with other traditional leaders to discuss how best we can deal with the issue of toilets.”
Meanwhile, the ORP has not registered any cases since its establishment, which GVH Kalonjera attributes to the continued awareness campaigns on good hygiene practices happening in the area.