By Omotayo Edubi
After Tropical Storm Ana that occurred on Monday 24th January 2022, many Malawians have being displaced from their homes.
The storm directly affected around 945,000 people, killing 45, and leaving thousands with no access to food or clean water.
In response, the President declared a State of National Disaster just two days later.
Tropical Storm Ana is the third major storm to have affected Malawi in the last seven years. In 2015, Tropical Storm Chedza left 176 people dead and in 2019 Cyclone Idai directly affected over 920,000 people around the country, making it the second-deadliest storm on record for the Southern Hemisphere.
The Ministry of Health alongside Doctors Without Borders ( MSF) are working together to provide support to the many displacement camps, the support includes mobile clinic logistics and Water and Sanitation (WATSAN).
“Families – some with five or more children – have lost their homes and stocks of food and are now living in camps with no shelter or in very poor conditions,” says Dr Narine Danielyan, MSF medical co-ordinator. “People have limited or no access to water, and sanitation is dire. Some camps with 2,000 people only have 10 latrines and sometimes the bathing areas are being used as latrines as well.”
While emergency efforts by the government, local authorities and local NGOs have helped to stabilise the situation, the needs of people displaced are still enormous. Poor sanitation, overcrowding in camps and stagnant pools of water pose a huge risk of disease outbreaks, especially in a district like Nsanje where cholera is endemic. An increase in malaria cases is also a concern.
