Illovo Sugar Malawi donates cholera medical supplies worth K20m to Limbe Health Centre

Katandula hands over the medical supplies to Facility Incharge, Dorah Mwafulirwa

* Blantyre is one of the districts which has been hit hard with cholera cases at 6,032 cumulative and 186 deaths as of Friday

* When the first cases were reported, we did not expect the figures to rise as fast as they did

* But come December and January this year, it was like an explosion of cholera cases with over 200 cases reported per day

* On Friday, the country registered 501 new cases and 15 new deaths

* Fatalities were recorded Lilongwe (10) and one each in Balaka, Machinga, Dowa, Thyolo and Chiradzulu

By Duncan Mlanjira

In response from health authorities appeal towards containment of the cholera outbreak that has hit Blantyre City hard as well as the country since January, Illovo Sugar Malawi Plc swiftly responded by donating various medical supplies worth K20 million to Limbe Health Centre.

The supplies include 51 buckets of chlorine, 135 kilograms of washing powder, 60 cartons of soap tablets and a 7×5 metre tent, to be used as a special treatment unit.

In her vote of thanks, Facility Incharge, Dorah Mwafulirwa — speaking on behalf of director for health & social services at Blantyre Health Office, Dr. Gift Kawalazira — said Blantyre is one of the districts which has been hit hard with cholera cases (at 6,032 cumulative and 186 deaths) since the onset in March last year.

“From March-April last year — when the first cases were reported — we did not expect the figures to rise as fast as they did, but come December and January this year, it was like an explosion of cholera cases with over 200 cases reported per day.

“This huge burden of patients flooding all at once was so overwhelming for the district. As a result, some other services at our heavily affected facilities were completely closed and a lot supplies were constantly depleted,” she said.

She added that they had to appeal for assistance from partners and different organizations to help as well and also reiterated the call by asking other wellwishers to emulate Illovo Sugar’s gesture.

“We are still recording over 90 cases per day from different facilities, both urban and rural,” she said. “This is why we are so grateful for this donation which has come in such a good time.

“These supplies will help a lot in the management of our patients. We believe that this will not just be only gift to us but rather the beginning of the so many donations which you’re organization is planning to help us with.”

Illovo Sugar’s Managing Director, Lekani Katandula said towards the end of December 2022, Dr. Kawalazira and Blantyre District Council management “reached out to Illovo with a request to provide support in the fight against the cholera outbreak”.

“Illovo was quick to respond to this request because, as a business, we strongly believe that in order to realise our purpose of creating a ‘Thriving Malawian Community’, it is imperative that we also play a part in ensuring the health and wellbeing of the community.

“This is because for a community to thrive it is important that they should be healthy. Secondly, we as Illovo operate our businesses within communities being Limbe, Nchalo and Dwangwa and realise that we are part of the local ecosystem.

“In this respect, the Limbe Health Centre is close to where our Limbe Head office is located and it is only natural that we should help to meet its immediate needs especially at this critical time.

“Being closest to us it is not far fetched that our staff could find themselves requiring services from the Health Centre owing to its proximity.”

He reiterated that Malawi is currently facing its worst cholera outbreak in two decades — which President Lazarus Chakwera described as “has come with vengeance”.

Katandula thus said from the figures (at a nationwide cumulative of 41,368 with 1,349 deaths), the country is “not yet out of the woods and it is our responsibility to ensure that we are following the popular rule by the Ministry of Health — to ‘boil it, cook it, peel it or forget it’.

“Let us ensure we are boiling our food and drinking water, serving food hot and avoiding street food and fresh foods like salads and fruits in restaurants and other public places.

“Since the first recorded case in 2022, cases have continued to soar throughout our country and it is now putting over 10 million lives at risk, including more than five million children.

“We are happy to make this donation and we hope that it will go a long way in assisting the patients at this Health Centre. Our efforts do not end here — we also have been undertaking similar interventions at Nchalo and Dwangwa to ensure that we protect both our employees, their dependants, and the communities surrounding our operations.”

The total spend at the two estates is K45.4 million, used for awareness campaigns, health talks within the estate clinics, provision of soaps, chlorine, vaccine provision, clean water and ablution facilities.

“We have been active in community. We continue to monitor the situation and are always quick to respond according to the needs on the ground.

“We will continue to respond to various social challenges faced by communities in which we operate,” Katandula said, while applauding the country’s medical personnel “who are ceaselessly working to fight this outbreak — you are doing a tremendous job and we are very proud of you.”

On Friday, the country registered 501 new cases and 15 new deaths, recorded Lilongwe (10) and one each in Balaka, Machinga, Dowa, Thyolo and Chiradzulu.

Cumulative confirmed cases since the onset in March last year is at 41,368 with 1,349 deaths at case fatality rate of 3.26%. A total of 39,056 have recovered while 963 were in treatment centres as of Friday.

Mangochi still leads in most cases recorded at 7,432 with 121 deaths, followed by Lilongwe (6,769/401); Blantyre (6,032/186); Salima (2,892/79); Balaka (2,936/84); Machinga (1,789/70); Nkhata Bay (1,516/44); Nkhotakota (1,326/54); Dedza (1,356/55); Rumphi (1,047/17); Dowa (1,071/32); Chiradzulu (1,001/37.

In three digits are Karonga (943/25); Ntcheu (868/18); Thyolo (788/21); Mulanje (639/27) and Mzimba North (472/2).