The Mozambican health authorities say that the cholera epidemic, that has been raging in parts of the country since December, has come under control, thanks both to the onset of winter and the improvement of sanitation conditions in some urban centres.
Maputo city health director Olivia Ferreira, cited in Monday's issue of the daily paper "Noticias", said that the Cholera Treatment Centre (CTC) at the Mavalane General Hospital is currently receiving only two or three patients a day, compared with more than 300 a day at the peak of the epidemic. Only five patients were still under medical care at the centre by late Sunday.
During the first three to four months of this year, the Mavalane CTC would aleays be treating more than 100 patients at a time.
Since the outbreak of the disease in Maputo, during the first week of December, the Mavalane CTC has treated about 12,000 patients, with 40 deaths, all from Maputo city.
In the central province of Sofala, the second most affected by the disease, with more than 5,000 cases and 32 deaths since January, the situation is also reported as calm.
Notwithstanding these improvements, the health authorities are not dismantling the tents at the treatment centres, and intend to keep up civic education on preventive measures.
Fonte: AIM
