At Chickwewo Health Center in Malawi, cholera patients receive treatment in a tent.

Health workers are concerned that Malawi’s health centers may not be ready to meet the challenges posed by the increasing incidence of cholera. Many centers are already running short on drugs and rehydration salts for treating the disease.

“As a hospital, in partnership with the community as well as aid agencies, we are doing our extreme best to try to contain the spread, but it is a real struggle,” says Peter Mkwate, a hospital administrator in the affected area.

World Vision has provided chlorine disinfectant for cleaning health facilities and for water treatment at the household level. Aid agencies are furnishing tents, beds, and blankets to health centers. They also transport people who show symptoms of cholera from remote locations to facilities where they can get treatment.

Along with the government ministry of health, World Health Organization, and U.N. children’s agency, World Vision is monitoring the cases on a daily basis and working with health centers and local partners to see that all people with suspected cases are treated.

To help contain the disease, World Vision volunteers and staff have stepped up cholera prevention campaigns in communities not yet affected.

Photo©2016 World Vision, Charles Kabena