HEALTH: Cholera Epidemic Hits Madagascar

By IPS Correspondents Reprint | | Print |

James Ramarosaona

ANTANANARIVO, Jan 24 2000 (IPS) - Cholera has killed 647 people in the Malagasy capital of Antananarivo and up to 40,000 people on this Indian Ocean island are at risk from the highly contagious disease.

Four of the island’s six provinces have been affected by the epidemic.

According to the French non-governmental organisation Doctors Without Frontiers (MSF), the disease is already out of control on the island of 14 million people.

“With the coming of the rainy season, 30,000 to 40,000 people will be at risk of catching the disease. One to two percent of those individuals are likely to die,” says Brigitte Doppler, MSF’s mission chief in Madagascar.

MSF especially fears for Antananarivo’s 10,000 homeless. Twenty- five people have died in the capital, with a population of about 900,000 people, since the beginning of the month. An additional 1,179 suspected cases of cholera had been reported in Antananarivo by Jan 11.

Other cities have also been hit by the disease with 12 people having been killed in Morondava in the west of the country. Antsirabe, the island’s second industrial city, 150 kilometers from the capital, was also struck by the disease. One person has died.

The northwest province of Mahajanga is one of the worst affected with some 415 people having been killed since the start of the epidemic.

Minister of Health, Henriette Rahantalalao, blames the spread of the disease on illegal migrants. Cholera is a deadly disease which is characterized by diarrhea, cramps, and exhaustion. It is caused by the Vibrio cholerae bacillus.

Poor hygenic practices and living conditions play a part in the spread of the disease. But the city’s residents are not yet aware of the dangers cholera poses. Health workers say they often face threats, insults and outright refusals when they ask people to comply with health regulations.

Various steps have been taken to combat the disease, among which is outlawing the sale of foods prepared under questionable hygenic conditions.

Hospital care is free for cholera victims. Health minister, Henriette Rahantalalao, this week announced that six more screening centres have been set up in the capital — bringing the total to 31, all open 24 hours a day.

The capital city’s Catholic community has also offered to participate in the anti-cholera campaign. Its leaders say they will soon meet to devise a plan of action.