Maltese missionaries in Ethiopia are turning to the public for help to buy medicines as they grapple with an unusual, widespread and deadly malaria outbreak in a region they have been working in for 30 years.

The Maltese missionaries run more than 100 schools and clinics that they have built over the decades in the Jimma Bonga region of Kaffa, Ethiopia.

The region has long been plagued by other diseases and poverty challenges. But malaria was never one of them, and the devastating outbreak that has struck in recent months caught them off guard and left them struggling to provide enough medication for everyone.

Nobody – not even the state authorities – is entirely sure what caused the outbreak, but they believe the effects of climate change could have played a part.

There is a cure but the government does not provide it, and in pharmacies it’s either extremely expensive or out of stock

Malaria is a mosquito-borne disease that can be prevented and cured but, in poor countries with lack of hygiene and proper medication, it can kill its victims. Its symptoms range from fever, chills and headaches to organ failure.

Makeshift graves that are being dug for the victims of the outbreak.

It is particularly dangerous for young children, pregnant women and people with weakened immune systems. Malaria is prevalent in some parts of Africa due to the warm, humid climates, a lack of access to healthcare, mosquito nets and anti-malaria drugs as well as inadequate infrastructure, poor sanitation and lack of proper housing.

Fr Alex Cauchi, director of the Moviment Missjunarju Ġesù fil-Proxxmu, visited the group’s missionaries in the region a few weeks ago. He said that, shortly after he landed, he had to witness the funeral of a 15-year-old boy – who was otherwise healthy – but had been bitten by a malaria-infected mosquito two days earlier.

“Wherever I went, people spoke to me about relatives they lost to the disease recently,” he said.

The missionaries have been providing education and healthcare for decades but their clinics have now been overwhelmed with patients seeking treatment.

They are now appealing to the Maltese public to help raise funds for antimalarial drugs, which are in short supply and expensive in the region.

“We know there is a cure but the government does not provide it and in pharmacies it’s either extremely expensive or out of stock,” he said.

A telethon will be held on Sunday and broadcast live on TVM, NET, ONE and Xejk, from 11am to 11pm, to raise money for this critical cause and also in aid of the group’s other projects in Africa and South America.