KAMPALA,
UGANDA—
Uganda dispatched a team of more than 370 health workers to
the northern part of the country on Monday where a malaria epidemic ravaging
the region since July has killed about 658 people.Uganda reported an unusual outbreak of malaria in the north
of the country in July, which health officials say has affected 1 million
people from a population of about 39 million.
Uganda has one of the highest rates of malaria in Africa,
with some 100,000 deaths, mostly pregnant women and children under 5, and 16
million cases a year, according to the country's Ministry of Health. The emergency team sent to deal with the epidemic consists
of 26 medical doctors as well as clinical officers and nurses.
"The team has been contracted for a period of 30 days
to offer case management at the health facility level," said Asuman
Lukwago, permanent secretary at the Ministry of Health.
District leaders in the affected areas have also been asked
to recruit more health workers, depending on the extent of the problem within
their area.
Northern Uganda has the highest number of registered cases
of malaria in the country, government data show. The region is recovering from a brutal 20-year insurgency
that destroyed most of its infrastructure, including health facilities.
"Due to various interventions, there has been a steady
decline in the cases so far being registered," Lukwago said.
"However, the outbreak continues to ravage people in the region."
Global figures
Globally, there were 214 million cases and 438,000 deaths
from malaria in 2015, according to World Health Organization figures.
Data show a global decline in new cases, with the
sub-Saharan region carrying a disproportionate burden of the disease. Lukwago said that as the ministry continues to monitor and
trace more people with signs and symptoms of fever, it will also provide
anti-malaria drugs and supplies to all health facilities in the affected
districts.
As part of a long-term intervention, Lukwago said the
government, starting in June, would also embark on an indoor residual spraying
campaign targeting 4.5 million people in 16 districts in the east and north of
the country. The government hopes the initiative will contribute to
achieving and sustaining protection of at least 85 percent of the people at
risk of malaria by 2017.
Lukwago said the campaign would later be scaled up to
include 50 more districts where cases of malaria are also high, as part of the
Uganda Malaria Reduction Strategic Plan 2014-2020. However, the ministry is also appealing to the public to
sleep under insecticide treated bed nets and destroy all breeding places for
malaria vectors by clearing bushes, removing stagnant water near homes and
working closely with village health teams to monitor and refer cases to
facilities. "Those already diagnosed with malaria are requested to
complete the dose of anti-malaria given to them," said Lukwago
0 comments:
Post a Comment
Please insert your comments here