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Mozambique struggles to recover
27/02/2007 09:14 - (SA)
Maputo - Flood-stricken Mozambique on Monday declared a national emergency over another calamity - tuberculosis.
Health Minister Ivo Garrido, in an interview with Radio Mozambique, said public hospitals had limited capacity to treat the more than 35 000 cases which were recorded last year alone. Only one in five public hospitals had the capacity to diagnose the disease, he said.
The announcement came as the country struggles to recover from a devastating cyclone in the south and weeks of flooding caused by heavy rains in the central region.
Last week Cyclone Favio destroyed thousands of homes in the resort town of Vilanculos and severed electricity and water supplies. Around 113 000 out of the town's total population of 140 000 people were affected, according to the Red Cross.
8 killed
Eight people were killed and around 70 injured, the Red Cross said.
Food, tents and clean water were urgently needed there and in the central Zambezi River valley, where around 140 000 have evacuated their homes in the wake of floods caused by weeks of heavy rains that claimed around 29 lives.
In neighbouring Zambia, flooding has killed five people, displaced around 100 000 and washed away crops, roads and bridges in the eastern, northern, north-eastern and western provinces.
United Nations World Food Programme envoy David Stevenson estimated at about 500 000 the numbers needing food aid in Zambia.
World Health Organisation envoy Stella Anyangwe warned of the risk of the spread of cholera, after several hundred cases were reported since October.
"Pit latrines are overspilling into rivers and streams, the only source of drinking water, a recipe for epidemic outbreak, notably, the water-borne diseases such as cholera," she said.
The Luangwa River and is tributaries burst their banks, flooding an area famous for its dense concentration and variety of wildlife.
The Red Cross said it had volunteers and medical staff on the ground providing aid to the flood victims while the Zambian government said it had enough corn stocks to feed the population for 12 months. - Sapa-dpa
- SAPA
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