Lilongwe: The Ministry of Health and World Health Organization in collaboration with the International Vaccine Institute (IVI) implemented the Oral Cholera Vaccine campaign in the area around Kasinthula area in Chikwawa district from 10 to 15 August 2015. A final report produced by the District Health Office on 15 August shows that 11,474 people received the first dose of the Oral Cholera Vaccine (OCV) in Kasinthula area representing 93% coverage.

The results also show that more women than men received the vaccine and the majority were children of 5 to 14 years of age. There were 20,500 doses of the OCV available for Kasinthula area and the vaccine was administered to all persons over one year old including pregnant and breast feeding women.

Chikwawa District Health Office trained health workers using manuals that were used in Nsanje. In addition they oriented village volunteers, traditional and religious leaders on the key messages that people in Kasinthula area needed to know. The volunteers and the leaders proceeded to organize meetings to inform communities about the planned OCV campaign. Letters containing the OCV information were sent to all churches and mosques and were read out to the congregation.

The volunteers were given standard messages and they used megaphones to communicate with the community. They also mentioned that pregnant and breast feeding women were eligible and that they would need to receive two doses, two weeks apart, to be fully immunized against Cholera for a period of five years.

The 20,500 vaccines were obtained from the left over stock in Nsanje district which implemented the OCV campaign in March 2015 following the threat of cholera outbreak among the Internally Displaced Persons who were living in camps and the surrounding communities.  In March, the WHO, IVI and European Union specifically, the International Coordinating Group (ICG) emergency stockpile provided vaccines for 105,000 people while the International Vaccine Institute provided vaccines for 55,000 people in Nsanje. Chikwawa district will conduct the OCV second dose campaign from 7 to 9 September 2015. The World Health Organization is continuing to lead the monitoring, evaluation and documentation of the best practices in the introduction of the Oral Cholera Vaccine in both Nsanje and Chikwawa.

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For more information, please contact:

Wenji Hudson Kubwalo, Health Promotion Officer, Tel.: +2651772755/450, Mobile: +265888878011, Email: wenjikubwalo [at] gmail.com