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As we navigate the challenges posed by recent aid cuts, it’s more crucial than ever for us in the development sector to come together. This webinar will delve into the impact of these cuts on our countries and explore how civil society organizations (CSOs) can adapt in this evolving landscape.

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Southern African countries face “terrifying and overwhelming” cholera outbreak as Covid19 cases begin to rise again, Oxfam warns

Victoria Chikonde from Chawama, Lusaka with a chorela hygiene kit she has received from Oxfam and Keepers Zambia Foundation

Victoria Chikonde from Lusaka, Zambia after she received her cholera hygiene kit from Oxfam and Keepers Zambia Foundation Photo: Loliwe Phiri/Oxfam

Author: dkayisi

Published: 17th Jan 2024

16th Jan 2024

Southern African countries including Malawi, Mozambique, Zambia and Zimbabwe are facing an unprecedented surge of cholera cases, warns Oxfam. The situation could become uncontrollable and difficult to managed due to steady increase of Covid19 cases and the onset of rainy season in the region which has further compromised hygiene among vulnerable communities - a majority of whom have no access to clean water and sanitation facilities.

Southern African countries need to address some systemic public health issues that are fueling the spread of cholera outbreak, including ensuring that people have access to improved sanitation, waste management and safe clean water.

In the last seven days, Zambia alone has recorded 3 468 new cases and 124 deaths, including babies, on top of more than 9500 cases and 374 deaths since October 2023. In just one week to January 4, Zambia’s Ministry of Health reported a 71.2% jump in cases and 175% more deaths in the country’s capital, Lusaka. The Zambian government has been forced to delay the reopening of schools by three weeks and has designated the 60,000-seat National Heroes Stadium as a treatment centre to ease pressure on health facilities.

Zimbabwe has recorded 1,839 cases and 39 deaths in the last seven days. It has seen 16,568 cases and 67 confirmed deaths – with a further 297 suspected deaths – since February last year. Mozambique suffered its deadliest cholera outbreak in 25 years between 2022 and 2023 when it had over 37,000 cholera cases. In the last 24 hours, Mozambique has recorded 74 new cases.

Malawi, which declared the outbreak a public health emergency last year, has put out a higher alert following the surge in Zambia. The country recorded 47 cases and two deaths between November and December 2023, totaling 1700 deaths since the outbreak in November 2022.

“The unprecedented rate of cases and deaths is terrifying, and utterly overwhelming the health systems of these countries. The outbreak is spiraling into an uncontrollable health crisis and news that health workers in Zambia are also texting positive for Covid calls for an urgent multipronged response,” said Machinda Marongwe, Oxfam in Southern Programme Director.

“Governments and agencies in the region need immediate funding to swiftly implement activities and projects that would help improve people’s hygiene and access to clean water, since these two factors are key in the fight against the spread”.

While Oxfam, its partners and other agencies have been implementing various projects to curb the spread, the rate at which the outbreak is spreading and resurfacing calls for more investment.

Zvidzai Maburutse, Oxfam in Southern Africa Humanitarian Lead, said: “We urgently need to scale-up people’s access to clean water, sanitation and hygiene awareness, and distribute many basic hygiene materials to impacted communities - but we urgently need more funding”.

Currently, according to Southern Africa Development Community (SADC), only 61% of the region's population has access to safe drinking water and only two out of every five people have access to adequate sanitation. This is undoubtedly fueling the spread of the outbreak.

“The challenge with many Zambians now is information gap on how they can prevent contracting cholera and this is exacerbated with lack of access to clean and safe water but also sanitation facilities”, says Ezra Banda of Keepers Zambia Foundation, Oxfam cholera response implementing partner.

Since the outbreak last year, Oxfam has been closely working with local partners and various government departments and ministries in Malawi, Mozambique, Zambia and Zimbabwe to support affected communities. It has provided more than 1.5 million people with hygiene kits and access to clean water, including by drilling and rehabilitating boreholes, and installing solar powered water pumping and distribution systems in public health facilities and markets. Oxfam and partners have also been conducting awareness campaigns to help curb the spread of the outbreak.

“Oxfam, together with partners aim to reach 4.5 million people across Malawi, Mozambique, Zambia and Zimbabwe with clean water, sanitation and hygiene awareness, as well as with basic hygiene materials. But $3 million is urgently needed to scale up our operations”, says Marongwe.

Daud Kayisi, Oxfam in Southern Africa Media and Communications Lead I dkayisi@oxfam.org.uk I 00265 999 826 757

Notes to editors

Oxfam and partners are working in Zimbabwe, Malawi, Mozambique and Zambia supporting affected communities with hygiene kits, conducting awareness raising to promote good hygiene practices, water quality monitoring, rehabilitation of water points and setting up bucket chlorination points in public places including markets and health facilities.
In Zambia, Oxfam and partners, Keepers Zambia Foundation, are a conducting a door-to-door distribution of hygiene kits to affected households in Lusaka.
In Zimbabwe, over 550 thousand people have been reached and supported with Cholera Response kits, hygiene promotion activities, water quality monitoring, rehabilitation of water points and setting up bucket chlorination points
In Malawi, Oxfam has supported 70 thousand people with various interventions including the rehabilitation of water pumping and distribution system at Katuli Health Centre in Mangochi district, rehabilitated 42 boreholes and drilling of six boreholes and distribution of cholera hygiene kits.

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Across the region, we partner with others to achieve change at scale through influencing local, national, regional and global policies and practices of states and the private sector, to augment and strengthen civil society capacity and to broker partnerships. We work to ensure women and men’s immediate needs for protection and support are met, and to develop solutions to improve people’s lives in the long term.

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Oxfam in Southern Africa Cluster is part of a movement in the southern Africa region working with the most vulnerable and poor sections of our society to challenge and advocate for the transformation of our growth and development models.

With country offices in Malawi, Mozambique, Zambia and Zimbabwe, Oxfam in Southern Africa Cluster has been working in the region with local civil society organization, marginalized individuals, think tanks and social movements for close to 60 years. Our current strategy sets out a commitment to a just and sustainable future for all people in the whole Southern Africa Development Community Region.

The current growth and development models of in SADC have worsened inequality and fail to meaningfully reduce poverty and secure people’s rights. Southern Africa continues to be the region with the highest number of ‘unequal countries’ across the globe, as the legacy of centuries-old settler colonialism and the structural inequalities it entrenched keep casting a long shadow on the region.

An estimated 88 million people (45% of the population) live in extreme poverty across the region- this accounts for 9% of extreme poverty globally, even though Southern Africa only accounts for about 2.5% of the world population. It is often women and girls who shoulder the burden of systemic poverty, injustices, and inequalities, in addition to the unending scourge of gender-based violence (GBV), sexual exploitation and abuse of girls.

The increased frequency and severity of climatic shocks, such as cyclones and droughts, worsens the likelihood of recurring humanitarian crises given the weak resilience and adaptive capacities of most countries in the region. Natural hazards continue to turn into humanitarian emergencies leaving millions of people displaced and without secure livelihoods.

Despite the many challenges bedeviling the region, there are opportunities to transform our economic and development models in ways that can boost equitable growth, reduce poverty and inequality, and broaden economic inclusion.

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