As part of the continued support to the Malawi Government in the cholera outbreak response, the World Health Organization (WHO) has activated its Emergency Medical Teams (EMTs) network following the recent request for assistance from the government. Two EMTs have been deployed to Malawi under partnership of WHO, UK-EMT (supported by Foreign Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) and Save the Children.  They will respond to the current cholera outbreak by managing patients in the cholera treatment centers, providing essential medication and supplies, and training local colleagues. These teams will be in Malawi for six weeks starting from first of February to support the surge response while helping to build the capacity of national health workers and surge responders in country.  A third international Emergency Medical Team, Samaritan’s Purse, is also currently mobilizing and will arrive in the coming days.

EMTs are groups of health professionals that provide direct clinical care to people affected by emergencies and disasters and support local health systems. The deployed EMT teams comprise of medical doctors, nurses, infection prevention and control specialists, WASH (water, sanitation, and hygiene) and logistics experts, and coordinators. Their objective is to enhance the capacity of the Ministry of Health in the cholera outbreak response to reduce loss of life and halt the spread of cholera.