Angola has been struggling with a cholera epidemic since the beginning of the year, which has already caused 519 deaths out of 14,671 detected cases, affecting 17 of the 21 provinces.
Virgílio Tyova, considered the cholera epidemic "one of the serious challenges" that the country is currently facing, expressed solidarity with all the families and communities affected, "especially those who have lost their loved ones", and reaffirmed the "unwavering commitment to the life, health and well-being of every Angolan".
The first vice-president of the parliamentary group of the Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA), who was speaking this Wednesday in the National Assembly, also said that, despite the continuous efforts and containment measures taken by the authorities, "the situation is still a cause for concern and requires a determined political, institutional and social response, but also a collective, coordinated and immediate one".
UNITA criticized, on Tuesday, the "inability of the government" to deal with the cholera epidemic, highlighting that this is the worst scenario in the last 30 years in Angola.
According to the Minister of Health of the "shadow government" of the National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA), Anastácio Rúben Sicato, this is no longer a simple cholera outbreak given the high number of cases registered.
"Based on the analysis of the situation, we are now facing a true cholera epidemic spreading nationwide. And this reflects the enormous difficulty the government had in containing the spread of this disease when it first appeared", he stated.
In the last 24 hours, according to data from the Ministry of Health, six deaths and 297 new cases were recorded, reported in the provinces of Benguela, Cuanza Norte, Luanda, Malanje, Bengo, Namibe, Cabinda, Cuanza Sul, Huíla, Zaire and Icolo e Bengo.
Luanda, the country's capital and the epicenter of the disease, leads the number of cases (5348) and deaths (195).
