Measles outbreak hits top prison in Malawi

  1. Posted on Wednesday 12 May 2010 - 08:45
    Sam Banda Junior
    Image of Sam Banda Junior
    Sam Banda Jnr, AfricaNews reporter in Blantyre, Malawi
    The measles outbreak in Malawi is reported to have attacked one of the top prisons - Chichiri in the Commercial City of Blantyre. According to Malawi Prison Services the outbreak is said to have so far attacked 20 inmates. The development has led to Malawi Prison Services to ban visitors and new admissions.
    malawi map
    “No visitors are being allowed to see their relatives or friend and we are not taking inmates who have been transferred from other prisons or even those who are new,” Commissioner for Prisons Mc Donald Chaona told the Daily Times.

    He said the ban on visitors and new inmates was one of the measures to control the outbreak.

    The affected inmates have since started getting treatment in the prison and that they have been isolated from their friends.

    Recently it was reported that there was congestion in Malawi’s prisons a development which was worrisome.

    Congestion has led to diseases like TB to rise in the southern African country’s prisons as cells keep double as many inmates as the capacity can hold.

    Chaona said over 12,000 inmates are crammed in the country’s prisons that are supposed to accommodate about 6,000 inmates.

    Reports say that Chichiri prison has a capacity of 800 but is currently accommodating 1,800 inmates.

    The measles outbreak continues to haunt Malawi as it has also attacked other districts registering over 100 cases and killing two people.

    A vaccination exercise started last week in the country’s six districts leaving 22 districts under threat due to lack of money.

    Measles is a highly contagious respiratory infection caused by a virus.

    So far Blantyre is the hardest hit of the districts as last month it registered 626 cases.
    The disease was recently declared a disaster after the country’s Ministry of Health sounded an alarm saying it was looking for 615 million Malawi Kwacha to vaccinate over six million children.

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