MEC warns communities about deadly malaria

According to the World Health Organization, about 219 million people are infected by malaria worldwide every year. About 660 000 of these people die, mainly children under the age of five living in Africa.

In Limpopo, the Vhembe district has always been the most affected area.  According to the MEC for Health, Dr Phophi Ramathuba, this is because of the high rainfall the area received and the extreme heat conditions. “These two weather conditions make Vhembe favourable for malaria,” she said.

The MEC said malaria cases had decreased by 8 000 cases last year.  This resulted in a budget cut of R6 million this year. “That was because we did well in the previous year in terms of combating malaria by spraying at people’s homes. The heavy rain that we received from late last year until this year increased the cases of malaria, even in areas that never experienced it before.”

She also referred to a negative report by a radio news service, “which said fumigation (spraying) is harmful to people and caused us a lot problems as some families refused to let our officials spray their homes. This led to a serious increase of malaria cases, which also resulted in shortages of medication at our clinics and hospitals,” Ramathuba said.

“Following an intervention of the national department of health, our facilities are fully stocked with malaria medication,” said Ramathuba.

She emphasised that malaria is a dangerous disease that can kill if a victim is not treated in time. She strongly advises that when a person experiences symptoms such as headache, fever, shivering, joint pains, sweating, fatigue, mental confusion, fast heart rate and vomiting, they must immediately rush to the nearest clinic or hospital.

Date:20 May 2017

By: Ndivhuwo Musetha

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