Category: Health Care

Authorities in Pakistan have confirmed the first case of wild polio virus in more than a year, dealing a setback to the country’s progress against the highly infectious disease.

A 15-month-old boy was paralyzed by the virus in the turbulent North Waziristan district, which borders Afghanistan, according to an official announcement Friday.

“This is, of course, a tragedy for the child and his family and it is also very unfortunate both for Pakistan and polio eradication efforts all over the world,” said Aamir Ashraf, a top health ministry official in Islamabad. “We are disappointed but not deterred.”

Pakistan and neighboring Afghanistan are the only two countries where polio continues to paralyze children, although case numbers in recent years have significantly dropped on both sides of the border.

The last time a child was paralyzed in Pakistan was in January 2021. There is one wild polio virus infection reported in Afghanistan this year and four in 2021.

Ashraf said health officials are conducting a thorough investigation into the detection of the polio case, and emergency immunization campaigns are underway to prevent further spread of the virus in the country of about 220 million people.

Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s office said he will chair an emergency meeting Monday of a national task force for polio eradication to review eradication efforts.

Polio crippled approximately 20,000 Pakistani children a year in the early 1990s.

The latest case in Pakistan has raised to three the global number of polio infections in 2022, including one in Malawi, according to data from the Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI).

The GPEI confirmed in February that Malawi had detected a case of type 1 wild poliovirus (WPV1) in a 3-year-old child suffering from paralysis in Lilongwe. It noted that the virus was “genetically linked to WPV1 that was detected in Pakistan’s southern Sindh province in 2019.

The detection does not affect the World Health Organization African Region’s wild poliovirus-free certification status officially marked in August 2020, according to the GPEI.

Source: Voice Of America

NAIROBI, More than one million children in Kenya, Ghana and Malawi have received one or extra doses of the world’s first malaria vaccine as efforts to eradicate the disease in the continent gathers steam, the World Health Organization (WHO) said ahead of World Malaria Day to be marked on April 25.

WHO in a statement issued in Nairobi, the Kenyan capital, said the malaria vaccine since its launch in 2019 has significantly reduced severe ailment and death among children in the three African countries.

The first ever malaria vaccine called RTS, S/AS01(RTS, S) is expected to save the lives of an additional 40,000 to 80,000 African children annually, says WHO.

So far, more than 155 million U.S. dollars have been secured from Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance to facilitate the introduction, procurement and delivery of the malaria vaccine to endemic countries in Sub-Saharan Africa, according to the WHO.

Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO director-general, said that development of a safe and efficacious vaccine marked a milestone in efforts to eliminate the vector-borne disease in the continent.

“This vaccine is not just a scientific breakthrough; it is life-changing for families across Africa. It demonstrates the power of science and innovation for health,” said Ghebreyesus.

He stressed there was an urgency to develop more sophisticated preventive tools in order to revitalize the war on malaria in Africa that accounts for more than 94 percent of the global malaria burden.

Source: Nam News Network

Highlights:

• Over the reporting period, cholera cases have more than doubled, increasing from 36 on 1 April to 72 cases as of 10 April. One more fatality has been registered, bringing the total number of deaths to three representing a case fatality rate of 4.2 per cent, which is well above the acceptable threshold set by WHO (1%).

• An increase in the number of children admitted for severe acute malnutrition (SAM) treatment has been observed mainly in Chikwawa, Nsanje, Balaka, Chiradzulu and Phalombe in March 2022 compared to the same period in 2021. The most significant increase was noted in Chikwawa, with over 64 per cent increase in SAM admissions from 526 in March 2021 to 867 in March 2022.

• UNICEF support has enabled 69,815 children (35951 male 33,864 female) to undergo nutrition screening, from which 1,171 children with severe wasting were identified and admitted for treatment.

• UNICEF-supported water trucking and the distribution of water treatment chemicals (including door-to-door chlorination) enable 38,593 people to access safe water.

• UNICEF has also scaled up the emergency sanitation interventions in several displacement sites in affected districts, with 21,732 people benefitting from emergency latrines and bathing facilities.

Situation Overview

As the country grapples with health emergencies (COVID, Polio, Cholera), the health sector faces several challenges, including health workers’ fatigue due to multiple concurrent vaccinations and vaccine hesitancy for COVID-19 continued influx of cholera cases from Mozambique.

Over the reporting period, cholera cases have more than doubled, increasing from 36 on 1 April to 72 as of 10 April. One more fatality has been registered, bringing the total number of deaths to three representing a case fatality rate of 4.2 per cent, which is well above the acceptable threshold set by WHO (1%). Most of the cases (over 80 per cent) are from the Mozambican border, primarily due to floods displacement. While the Government of Mozambique has yet to declare cholera, it is essential to monitor the situation closely. A cross border coordination meeting of the United Nations organisations was held between Malawi and Mozambique teams on 04 April 2022 to deliberate on the situation. At the district level, Nsanje is also organising cross border coordination engagements with Mozambiquan counterparts to ensure cases are identified to minimise deaths. The country is preparing for Oral Cholera Vaccine (OCV) immunisation activities (reactive campaign) in Nsanje and Chikwawa districts.

The first round of Polio Supplementary Immunisation Activity (SIA) was completed between 21 to 26 March with 102 per cent coverage. Logistics and preparations are nearly completed for the second round, scheduled for 25 to 29 April. The target is to reach 2,922,095 targeted children under the age of 5 with the Oral Polio vaccine (OPV). No additional Wild Polio Virus (WPV) case has been identified since the index was reported in February 2022.

COVID-19 cases and deaths continue to drop. However, the positivity rate continues to linger at around 2 per cent. This reporting period has seen a drop in new infections by 46 per cent, and hospital admissions reduced by a further 10 per cent. As of 11 April, only 9 cases were hospitalised. Since the pandemic’s beginning, 85,705 cases and 2,628 deaths have been registered. COVID vaccination status presently stands at 908,688 fully immunised people. This is less than 10 per cent of the targeted numbers. In addition, close to 277,000 AstraZeneca vaccines are to expire in May 2022. Hence the Ministry of Health and partners have designed a “finish-a-vial” campaign to scale coverage. This campaign will take place from the week of 11 to 15 April 2022. Supplies for the campaign have been distributed to the country’s districts.

This year, Malawi has faced multiple climatic shocks and unfavourable macroeconomic conditions. In addition to the drought experienced earlier in the agricultural season, tropical storms Ana and Gombe wreaked havoc in the southern region, causing severe damage to key infrastructures including roads, schools, and health facilities and damaging crops and displacing people. With increased food prices, which will reduce financial access to food for poor households, Malawi’s food security situation from April 2022 to March 2023 is unfavourable. As per the Famine Early Warning Systems Network March 2022 Outlook, in southern Malawi, the upcoming harvest is expected to be 35 per cent below average, an additional 10 per cent lower than the initial estimation from the February Food Security Outlook. This is of great concern because of the likely increase in malnutrition. There is already an increase in the number of children admitted for severe acute malnutrition (SAM) treatment, mainly in Chikwawa, Nsanje, Balaka, Chiradzulu and Phalombe from March 2022 to the same period in 2021. The most significant increase was noted in Chikwawa, with over 64 per cent increase in SAM admissions from 526 in March 2021 to 867 in March 2022. Overall, there was a 30 per cent increase in children with severe wasting admissions at the national level in February 2022 (4,472) compared to February 2021 (3,442).

Source: UN Children’s Fund

In Numbers

• 85,640 cumulative and 2,407 active cases of COVID-19 in Malawi (31 March 2022)

• USD 5 million six-month (April – September 2022) net funding requirements

• USD 29.4 million funding required for flood response

Strategic Outcome 1

• Floods Response: Under tropical storm Ana flood response, a National Response Plan has been finalised. A Flash Appeal was released in which the Food Security and Livelihoods Sector (including Agriculture) is prioritising 450,000 people with a USD 8.6 million funding requirement. WFP confirmed contributions from the Government of Iceland and Italy towards cash assistance. Targeting and verifications for the distributions in the most affected areas is ongoing.

• Refugees: In parallel to the ongoing cash operation targeting over 10,000 households in Dzaleka refugee camp, WFP is also promoting income generating activities, so refugees and host communities boost their self-reliance. A wide of range of activities are promoted, from soya and mushroom farming, eggs production, soap making and tailoring.

Strategic Outcome 2

• School feeding: The EU Ambassador to Malawi visited Chikwawa District. The mission appreciated the emergency support being provided to learners in flood-affected schools not under regular school feeding and the expansion of the home-grown school feeding model in the district.

• Social protection: Along with the shock-sensitive social protection for the lean season response, cashplus activities were piloted in Chikwawa District with afforestation chosen as the long-term initiative. With support from district and sub-district level, the pilot is underway in targeted traditional authority areas.

Strategic Outcome 3

• Malnutrition prevention: In collaboration with the Department of Nutrition and HIV/AIDS and the District Council, WFP conducted a review and learning working of the Neno Nutrition Investment Project supported by the Government of Ireland.

Source: World Food Programme

SUMMARY OF KEY FINDINGS

• In Round 22 (collected between the 6th of February and 6th of March 2022) food security has stabilized. There is an unchanging high proportion of households classified as having acceptable food consumption, with the decreased use of reduced coping and livelihood coping strategies. This indicates a stabilization in food security following the consumption of greens from the upcoming harvest.

• The proportion of households who are engaging in emergency consumptionbased and emergency livelihood-based coping has decreased and those who are not employing any coping have increased in the current round. This further indicates a stable food security situation in the country.

• Physical access to markets in this round of data collection remained relatively high and not significantly different from the previous round, as farmers are procuring farm inputs from markets for the growing season.

Source: World Food Programme

***Lilongwe, 8 April 2022- ***Malawi has received 1.9 million doses of Oral Cholera Vaccine (OCV) from the Global Emergency Stockpile to support the first round of the oral cholera vaccination campaign. With support from the World Health Organization (WHO), UNICEF, and partners, Malawi is planning to conduct an oral cholera vaccination campaign over the next few weeks. The vaccination campaign will target 1.9 million people comprising all adults and children from one year old upwards who are living in flood-affected and cholera-prone districts. The targeted people will receive two doses of cholera vaccines two weeks apart. This is following the declaration of a cholera outbreak in Malawi on 3 March 2022. To date, Malawi has recorded over 65 cholera cases and 3 deaths across two districts in the southern region.

A total of 3.9 million oral cholera vaccines have been approved to prevent the risk of cholera spread in flood-affected districts in Malawi with support from Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance.

To strengthen preparedness and response to cholera outbreak in vulnerable populations, WHO has correspondingly donated to the Malawi Ministry of Health assorted cholera investigation, laboratory, and case management kits valued at 64 Million Malawi Kwacha.

Acting WHO Representative in Malawi Dr Janet Kayita officially handed over the cholera kits to the Minister of Health Honorable Khumbize Kandodo Chiponda in Lilongwe on 7 April 2022. These emergency cholera kits will be prepositioned in cholera high-risk districts to enhance cholera response and readiness.

On 24 January 2022, Malawi was hit by moderate tropical storm Ana whichcaused severe flooding in 19 districts of the Southern and Central regions. The tropical storm destroyed homes, safe water sources, and toilets, thus leaving nearly 200,000 people displaced in informal camps. According to the health assessment report, the displaced people in camps have inadequate living space and insufficient access to safe drinking water, sanitation, and hygiene, putting them at risk of cholera and other vector borne diseases.

Cholera remains a neglected disease despite many developing countries in the world facing cholera outbreaks or the threat of a cholera epidemic.” Said Dr Janet Kayita Acting WHO Representative in Malawi. “Every death from cholera is preventable with the tools we have today. Therefore, WHO commits to provide support to the Ministry of Health to implement immediate, long-term cholera control, including surveillance, outbreak response and preventive measures.”

“Despite the recurring of cholera in the country, the Ministry of Health is committed to the global strategy to eliminate cholera. With technical support from WHO, the country is implementing a multisectoral approach integrating strengthened surveillance, vaccination, community mobilization and water, sanitation and hygiene to prevent and control cholera in hotspots districts.” Said Dr Storn Kabuluzi, Director of Preventive Health Services in the Ministry of Health.

Cholera contributes substantially to the disease burden in Malawi and is endemic with cases confirmed almost every year since the first cholera case in the country was detected in Nsanje district in 1973. Traditionally, cholera outbreaks are confirmed in districts along Lake Malawi and Shire River valley due to flooding in the low-lying districts in the Southern Region.

Envisioning a world where cholera is not a public health threat, the Global Taskforce on Cholera Control (GTFCC) launched the Global roadmap for reducing cholera deaths by 90% by 2030. WHO Country Offices are supporting the Member States to be in line with the global roadmap by strengthening capacities in countries like Malawi in cholera preparedness and response readiness.

Source: World Health Organization