Page 5 - HOH

A6 WORLD NEWS
Monday 3 april 2023
Mozambique works to contain cholera
outbreak after cyclone
By TOM GOULD 1,000. workers are struggling to
Associated Press At least 31 died of cholera treat the infected with
QUELIMANE, Mozambique in Zambezia and over 3,200 many clinics and hospitals
(AP) — Weeks after massive were hospitalized between badly damaged. “The cy-
Cyclone Freddy hit Mozam- March 15 and 29, accord- clone destroyed the infra-
bique for a second time, ing to data from the Minis- structure here,” said José
the still-flooded country is try of Health. da Costa Silva, the clini-
facing a spiraling cholera Cases are highest in the cal director of the Icidua
outbreak that threatens to neighborhood of Icidua health center. “We are
add to the devastation. on the city outskirts, where working in parts of the
There were over 19,000 most residents live in bam- hospital that were not de-
confirmed cases of chol- boo or adobe mud huts stroyed. Some colleagues
era across eight of Mo- and fetch water in buck- are working outside in the
zambique’s provinces as ets from communal wells. open because there’s not
of March 27, according to Flooding brought by the enough space available
U.N. Office for the Coor- cyclone has exposed many for everyone.”
dination of Humanitarian of these wells to water con- Eighty health centers in to-
Affairs, a figure which had taminated with sewage tal were affected by Fred-
almost doubled in a week. overflow and other sourc- dy’s two landfalls in Mo-
Freddy was likely the lon- es of bacteria. Cholera zambique, according to
gest-lived cyclone ever, spreads through feces, of- INGD, the country’s disas-
lasting over five weeks and ten when it gets into drink- ter management agency.
A mother prepares a meal for her family in a displacement camp on the bank of a flooded rice
paddy near the village of Nicoadala, Zambezia province, Mozambique, Friday, March 24, 2023.
Associated Press
hitting Mozambique twice. ing water. Although cyclones do
The tropical storm killed 165 But until water pipelines occur in southern Africa
people in Mozambique, 17 ruptured in the floods are from December to May,
in Madagascar and 676 repaired, these wells are human-caused climate
in Malawi. More than 530 the only source of water for change has made tropi-
people are still missing in those in Icidua and com- cal cyclones wetter, more
Malawi two weeks later so munities like it. For now, intense and more frequent.
that country’s death toll temporary solutions offer The now-dissipated natural
could well exceed 1,200. the only hope of stemming La Nina event also wors-
Freddy made its second the outbreak. ened cyclone activity in
landfall in Mozambique’s Volunteers go from house the region. While Cyclone
Zambezia province, where to house distributing bottles Freddy itself hasn’t yet
scores of villages remain of Certeza, a local chlorine- been attributed to climate
flooded and water supplies based water purifier. Each change, researchers say it
are still contaminated. bottle should last a family has all the right hallmarks of
At a hospital in Quelimane, for a week, but supplies are a warming-fueled weather
Zambezia’s provincial running low as local pro- event.
capital, National Institute duction struggles to keep Formed in early February
of Health director general pace with demand. There off Australia, the cyclone
Eduardo Sam Gudo Jr re- are also not enough peo- with exceptional longevity
ported there were 600 new ple to distribute the Certe- made an unprecedented
confirmed cases a day in za, even if greater supplies crossing of more than 8000
Quelimane district alone, could be procured, Gudo kilometers (5,000 miles)
but said that the real num- said. from east to west across
ber may be as high as In the meantime, health the Indian Ocean.q
Pakistani charity
boss slams govt for
Ramadan stampedes
A mother prepares a meal for her family in a displacement
camp on the bank of a flooded rice paddy near the village
of Nicoadala, Zambezia province, Mozambique, Friday,
March 24, 2023.
Associated Press
ISLAMABAD (AP) — The head of Pakistan’s largest
charity slammed the government on Sunday after at
least 23 people died during stampedes to get free
food during the holy month of Ramadan.
Cash-strapped Pakistan launched an initiative to dis-
tribute free flour among low-income families to ease
the impact of record-breaking inflation and soaring
poverty during the holy month.
Business owners often hand out cash and food in Ra-
madan, especially to the poor.
But mismanagement and overcrowding have caused
stampedes, with at least 23 people dying across the
country.
Faisal Edhi, head of the charity Edhi Foundation,
called the deaths “unhumanitarian” because of the
methods adopted by the government which he lik-
ened to “publicity stunts”.
“This is not the government way to distribute flour on
roads,” he told The Associated Press.
He said the government instead needs to put essen-
tial items including flour, pulses and rice in specific
stores at subsidized rates and also ensure their avail-
ability. “This is the respectable way to donate to the
poor,” he said.
The deadliest stampede yet occurred on Friday, when
at least 12 women and children died in a crush in the
major city of Karachi. That charity event was not part
of the government initiative, but crowds have swelled
at distribution centers in recent days.
On Saturday, in the northwestern city of Peshawar,
clashes broke out between people waiting for flour
and police after a food distribution centre reached
its maximum capacity of 300.
Police officer Babar Khan, who was part of the de-
ployment at the Hayatabad Sports Complex, said
people were standing outside even before the flour
distribution began.
People blocked the road and pelted police with
stones.
“Therefore, the police had to resort to tear gas to dis-
perse the crowd and avoid a stampede,” he said.
No casualties were reported and the flour distribution
continued inside the complex, he added.q