Africa-Press – Botswana. Chobe District has recorded nine active malaria cases with no deaths this year.
In an interview recently, Chobe DHMT head of preventative services, Dr Clement Mukadi said the cases were from all the villages in Chobe except Kavimba.
Dr Mukadi warned that the numbers could increase because malaria was a seasonal disease and occurred from October to May because of the rainfalls and thick vegetation.
He therefore encouraged the public to apply preventative measures like using mosquito nets and indoor residual spray which was most effective to kill mosquitos in efforts to eliminate the disease.
Also, Dr Mukadi implored residents to keep their yards clean by cutting grass, throwing away old tyres and material that were a common breeding ground for mosquitoes.
He said signs and symptoms for malaria included fever, headache, body pains, dizziness hence alerted the public to seek medical assistance immediately when they noticed such symptoms.
“Malaria if not diagnosed and treated it can lead to death and we do not want that to happen and that is why it is important to apply preventative measures,” he said. He indicated that the DHMT was currently undertaking an Indoor Residual Spray (IRS) in all Chobe villages except for Kasane and Kazungula who were set aside to receive mosquito nets.
However, he said he was disappointed with the IRS exercise in the district moving at a slow pace at 55.2 per cent against an 85 per cent target.
Dr Mukadi said Pandamatenga was leading in the exercise at 70.2 per cent followed by Parakarungu at 68.5 per cent and Satau at 64 per cent whereas the rest of the villages were below 50 per cent.
He said DHMT had come up with strategies to raise awareness against malaria and mobilise communities to apply preventative measures by engaging with Dikgosana to speak to people in their respective wards.
Furthermore, he indicated that the residual spraying was done by residents who were assigned in their respective villages.
“This was meant to create a sense of comfort and trust among residents by allowing people from their own community to have access to their homes. We have engaged three teams this year compared to the past years when there was only one team spraying the whole district and the teams comprise 45 spray operators in total,” he said.
He added that a mass distribution of mosquito nets in Kasane and Kazungula would be conducted next month (February) upon completion of IRS end of January because it was done by the same team of operators.
On the cholera outbreak that was reported in neighbouring countries, Dr Mukadi said Chobe DHMT was on high alert due to its geographic location sharing border with three countries.
He said DHMT had deployed a surveillance system at points of entry as they continued to raise awareness to ensure Botswana stayed at zero cases.
He advised that people should wash hands with soap, drink clean and safe water, maintain good sanitation and avoid eating contaminated food and water.
“Wash your fruits before you eat them, cook food thoroughly, wash hands after visit to toilet and before food always,” he said.
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