ADDIS ABABA (AFP) — Ethiopia is stockpiling medicine to counter an expected surge in malaria cases due to hotter weather, its health ministry said on Saturday.

In a statement, Kesetebirhan Admasu, head of the disease prevention directorate, said the El Nino effect would raise temperatures, reduce rain and generally aggravate conditions for the spread of malaria.

In response to the threat, he said, “there is sufficient medicine in store that could treat 12 million people,” for which 12.6 million birr (685,000 euros, one million dollars) has been spent.

The government has already purchased malaria diagnosis kits and medicines, insecticides and spraying equipment, and plans to distribute 13 million mosquito nets, he added.