Issued by: National Department of Health
20 September 2005
The Ministry of Health notes the interest that the outbreak out-break of typhoid in Delmas has generated amongst various interest groups including the Democratic Alliance and its leader, Tony Leon who is expected to the visit the area tomorrow.
The Ministry welcomes the visit particularly because the Department of Health would like to share information on the significant progress being made to contain the outbreak of typhoid in that area with as many interested parties as possible.
However, we call on all leaders who visit the area to avoid political opportunistic tendencies of using this challenge to canvass support for the coming local government elections.
We hope that Tony Leon would heed this call and rather support the Department's efforts to raise awareness about basic hygiene and other measures needed to prevent infections.
The Ministry is encouraged by the decrease in the daily intake of patients suffering from diarrhoea in the health facilities around the areas that are affected by typhoid.
This decrease can be attributed to an intensive health education and public awareness campaigns conducted by our health promotions and environmental officers amongst the affected communities in the area.
While we welcome the decrease in diarrhoeal cases, it is critical that we continue to encourage people who may have diarrhoea and symptoms of typhoid like headache, fever and abdominal pains to visit the nearest health facility as soon as possible.
Early presentation, diagnosis and treatment are critical in preventing deaths from diarrhoea or typhoid. Healthcare workers have been working tirelessly to ensure effective case management and limit the number of deaths as a result of the outbreak of typhoid in Delmas. Four deaths have been reported out of 552 cases of patients with symptoms of typhoid that have been treated in the area.
Contact: Sibani Mngadi, spokesperson for the Health Minister 0827720161