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STORY: WHO / ANGOLA CHOLERA RESPONSE
TRT: 08:17
SOURCE: WHO
RESTRICTIONS: PLEASE CREDIT WHO ON SCREEN
LANGUAGE: PORTUGUESE / NATS
DATELINE: 09 JUNE 2025, LUBANGO, HUÍLA PROVINCE, ANGOLA
1. Various shots, streets and Mutundo Market
2. SOUNDBITE (Portuguese) Leonardo Isaías, Epidemiological Surveillance Program Coordinator, Province of Huíla:
“All the surrounding areas of the Mutundo market, all the cases were related to this market. So, at that time, 95 percent of the cases here in the Mutundo area were related to the market, and now we have 16.7 percent of the cases in the entire province are associated with the Mutundo market.”
3. Wide shot, Mutundo Market
4. SOUNDBITE (Portuguese) Leonardo Isaías, Epidemiological Surveillance Program Coordinator, Province of Huíla:
“This is what we did. We had to come here to the Mutundo market to raise awareness on a mass scale. We raised awareness among medical institutions to help raise awareness among the population around the market about cholera and the procedures that must be followed if someone has cholera. Other activities that were carried out here in the Mutundo were the disinfection of the market itself, and this activity, according to the municipal administration, has been carried out every Monday.”
5. Wide shot, Municipal Hospital entrance
6. Various shots, inside the cholera treatment ward of patients and health workers
7. SOUNDBITE (Portuguese) Florinda Kissongo, Chief Nurse, Cholera Treatment Centre, Lubango Municipal Hospital of EIVA:
“It’s a very ugly disease, a terrible disease. It’s a disease that’s not good at all, and it really kills. People sometimes don’t believe it when it´s said cholera kills; they think it´s not true. Maybe he’s just talking, but it’s real. Those who don’t believe it should come here and see how cholera really kills. And it’s fast.”
8. Various shots, cholera field hospital, with a health worker washing their hands and a patient being attended to
9. SOUNDBITE (Portuguese) Florinda Kissongo, Chief Nurse, Cholera Treatment Centre, Lubango Municipal Hospital of EIVA:
“Give more lectures, speak more in churches, squares, schools, and everywhere. The best way to avoid cholera is prevention, prevention.”
10. Wide shot, house in Mutundo Neighbourhood with children playing
11. SOUNDBITE (Portuguese) Maria Bundo, Cholera Survivor:
“I was with a child who wasn’t feeling well, and the neighbours told me if he is not feeling well, and if the next day continues, go to the paediatrician. During the night, the child got worse. I went with him to the paediatrician. I went there at 01:55 pm, and he was observed by 2:00 pm, tested, and the result came out as cholera. I was transferred to the cholera treatment centre, where we stayed for one week.”
12. Wide shot, Maria walking with her children
13. SOUNDBITE (Portuguese) Maria Bundo, Cholera Survivor:
“While I was in the river, the boy and the little girls started having diarrhoea, and then we went back there again. We stayed there for a week, and we were discharged. Here I am with them.”
Mutundo Neighbourhood, Lubango, Huíla Province, Angola, 09JUN2025 (NATS)
14. Wide shot, Maria walking with her children
15. SOUNDBITE (Portuguese) Maria Bundo, Cholera Survivor:
“No, I didn’t feel scared. I felt the boy for the first time because I’d never seen him like this, and I stood there crying. My brother said to me, “You, Mimosa/sensitive. “I cried, cried, cried, but as he told me it was normal, and I got to the hospital, and found another mother, I stayed firm. Thanks to God, my children are well and have not complained again about their health.”
16. Med shot, two of Maria’s children
17. SOUNDBITE (Portuguese) Maria Bundo, Cholera Survivor:
“Thank God they are fine; they never complained.”
18. Wide shot, WHO and community outreach walking in the neighbourhood
19. Med shot, Maria greeting Castro Cavango, community outreach at her door
20. SOUNDBITE (Portuguese) Castro Cavango, Community outreach Officer, Lumbango Municipality Health Department:
So, after a family or a patient is diagnosed with the disease, or cholera, the investigation is carried out, and the data is collected. The patient’s personal information, as well as his/her residence. Afterwards, we follow up at the home, conduct a home investigation. We will check the conditions of the home”
21. Med shot, Maria and Castro Cavango, community outreach at her door
22. SOUNDBITE (Portuguese) Castro Cavango, Community outreach Officer, Lumbango Municipality Health Department:
“So, we will go there to make this visit and take the opportunity to carry out prophylaxis of the contacts of the sick person, as well as to raise awareness among the neighbours, the residents of the same residence, neighbours, so that they are vigilant, alert to any of the manifestations, symptoms, signs, and symptoms of the disease.”
23. Med shot, Maria and her three children at her door.
24. Med shot, Dr José Caetano Gomes, exiting a WHO vehicle
25. Med shot, Dr José Caetano Gomes, walking into the WHO office.
26. SOUNDBITE (Portuguese) Dr José Caetano Gomes, Surveillance Officer, World Health Organization (WHO):
“Initially, the actions were focused on diagnosing the situation and seeing what we had at the provincial level to enable municipal teams to be prepared for any eventuality. This was mainly done by training health team personnel and then, within the Health Subcommittee, we began to intensify awareness-raising activities at the community level, to see local partners and to hold regular coordination meetings with technical teams and contact with municipal teams.”
27. Various shots, children collecting clean water from government-supplied water tanks.
28. SOUNDBITE (Portuguese) Dr José Caetano Gomes, Surveillance Officer, World Health Organization (WHO):
“At the provincial level, what needs to be done is to continue to involve everyone. Because this is a disease that cannot be tackled by the health sector alone. It has social determinants of health, such as water and sanitation. We also have free trade. All of these sectors must develop preventive and educational actions so that the population can continue to carry out their activities, whether commercial, 29. Med shot, children collecting clean water from government-supplied water tanks.
In just over five months, Angola has recorded over 26,000 cholera cases and nearly 750 deaths. This marks the worst cholera outbreak in the country in almost two decades.
The past three weeks have shown encouraging trends thanks to a multisectoral and multipronged approach. Weekly deaths have decreased to the lowest levels since January, and the weekly case fatality rate has declined to 1.5 percent from a high of 8.8 percent in January 2025.
While the situation remains serious, these improvements demonstrate the impact of the ongoing response and provide hope that with continued strong collaboration, more support in supplies, oral rehydration points, clean water, vaccines, and to intensify the community mobilization, cholera can be stopped, lives saved, and dignity restored.
