Geoffrey Branger / Photo credit: OPHELIE VINOT / HANS LUCAS / HANS LUCAS VIA AFP
In the French department of Mayotte, located in the Indian Ocean, a three-year-old child died of cholera on Wednesday. Since mid-March, 58 cases of cholera have been recorded by the Mahorese authorities, including six active cases at the last report dated May 6. The Minister of Health was dispatched to the site.
A first death linked to cholera on the Mayotte archipelago. A three-year-old child, who lived in a slum in the commune of Koungou, died after being infected. The Minister of Health, Frédéric Valletoux, was dispatched to the site this Wednesday and Thursday. At this stage, 58 cases of cholera have been identified. Concretely, what is the situation in this French overseas region?
“We are a medical desert”
Faced with this spread of the disease, the Mahorais are afraid. Like Nida, mother of three, who, since the first contaminations, has lived in constant stress. “We don’t know who has it and who doesn’t, it’s a small island. With the overpopulation of people in an irregular situation who return here, we rub shoulders without wanting to. And this microbe, we can have it at any time. It’s not because the minister arrived today that it will solve anything. It’s not enough to come and see the people”, she laments at the microphone of Europe. 1.
A visit from Frédéric Valletoux, Minister of Health, which is closely followed by the Mahorais who are waiting for announcements. They are calling for a more massive cholera vaccination campaign and more healthcare workers. “We are a medical desert with only one hospital, with an emergency department which has 43 positions including only five emergency doctors currently in the territory”, denounces Estelle Youssouffa, LIOT deputies from Mayotte.
Overall, the Mahorais place the blame on the authorities who fail to stop the arrival of migrants on the island, particularly from the Comoros. There, the toll since the start of the year is already heavy with around a hundred deaths and nearly 5,000 sick.