Fighting disease new challenge for Cyclone Idai survivors in Mozambique
- The International Committee of the Red Cross said it had recorded two cases of cholera so far
- Survivors are struggling in desperate conditions with some still trapped on rooftops
Disease is threatening to aggravate the already dire conditions facing millions of survivors following the powerful tropical cyclone, which ravaged southern Africa 10 days ago, officials warned on Sunday.
“It is inevitable that cases of cholera and malaria will arise. In many areas we are already fighting with malaria cases,” said Land Minister Celso Correia at a briefing in Beira, 1,000km (620 miles) northeast of the capital Maputo.
The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs’ Sebastian Rhodes Stampa, also at the briefing, warned that disease outbreaks in inaccessible areas could be “really problematic”.
The World Food Programme said on Friday that the humanitarian disaster unfolding in Mozambique is on a par with the situation in Yemen and Syria, which are both in the grip of civil wars.
Aid workers from across the world are continuing to arrive in the region to bring help to more than two million affected people across an area of roughly 3,000 square kilometres (around 1,160 square miles).
Survivors are struggling in desperate conditions with some still trapped on rooftops and those rescued in urgent need of food and medical supplies.