Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Chikwawa (Agenzia Fides) - Basic necessities, essential goods for people who have lost their homes, survival kits for babies and children, are some of the priorities urgently needed by the thousands of people affected by Cyclone Ana ( see Fides, 3/2/2022).
More than 800,000 people, 32 confirmed dead and 20 missing, as well as 150 injured, is a first estimate of the catastrophe. The most affected districts are Chikwawa and Nsanjie. Most of the houses have been destroyed or completely damaged. According to a note sent to Fides currently, in the two districts there are 460,000 people affected and 73,000 people in displaced persons camps. "Among them, there are 15,000 babies and children under 5. It is very likely that the number will increase", said the head of mission of the humanitarian organization for International Cooperation (Coopi) in Malawi. "We need blankets, hats, socks, baby clothes, soap, laundry soap, toothbrushes, toothpaste, towels, sanitary napkins, toilet paper, etc., kitchen utensils, construction kits".
Another serious danger reported by the organization is the contamination of water, fountains and health facilities. "The phenomenon would lead to a high probability of the spread of diseases such as cholera and malaria in the coming days and weeks, since the country is still in the middle of the rainy season". The difficult situation of an already exhausted population is aggravated by the warning made by the UN agency that coordinates humanitarian affairs (OCHA) that has warned of the imminent passage of tropical cyclone Batsirai a few days after Ana. The struggle of the people of Malawi to resist the combined impact of increasingly extreme climatic events and the Covid-19 pandemic continues. (AP) (Agenzia Fides, 5/2/2022)
