News
HST Collects relevant news from a variety of sources, for your convenience. Select a story from below, or use our search feature to find stories of interest.

Malaria flare-up expected in Northern Province this month
SAPA
2000-03-10

A malaria outbreak is expected in the Northern Province in mid-March due to conditions created by the recent floods in the area.

Malaria flare-up expected in Northern Province this month

A major flare-up in malaria cases was expected in the Northern Province from mid-March, the province's health and welfare department said in a report released on 8/3/00. The report, tabled at a meeting of Parliament's health portfolio committee, also warned that the area faced long-term malnutrition. 

It said the signs of a worse-than-usual malaria epidemic had been in place before the recent floods. "A major flare-up is expected from mid-March, dependent on the timing of the floods in the various parts of the province," it said. It said general disease prevention and control programmes had been disrupted. This left patients at risk due to delayed immunisation programmes and interrupted treatment of tuberculosis, hypertension and diabetes. There was no sign of cholera in the province at present, and river monitoring was being set up.

It was expected that refugees would cross into the Lowveld and adjacent areas in large numbers from flood-stricken Mozambique, where there was cholera at present. Typhoid was endemic in rural areas, and sporadic cases had been noted. It could occur in epidemic proportions as a result of the flooding. There had been epidemics of shigella dysentery recently in KwaZulu-Natal, and there was a risk of large outbreaks in the Northern Province. Malnutrition was likely to occur over a long period due to both acute starvation in cut-off communities, crop destruction, and longer-term economic effects.

The department had planned or already embarked on programmes, including stepped-up community health education efforts, the distribution of special "epidemic packs" for clinics, and additional training for clinic staff in techniques such as rapid tests for malaria. Every effort was being made to re-establish road contact with clinics to ensure continuous supplies of medicines and other vital items. Reconnaissance had been done by Red Cross helicopter of hospitals and clinics in the worst -affected areas. Volunteers with four-wheel drive vehicles were being organised to operate from hospitals in the province's Northern region to establish contact with clinics and maintain crucial community services. The report said many clinics still did not have functioning telephones or radiophones. Some could be reached only by air. Twelve of the 49 clinics in the Mutale area were three weeks overdue for drug supplies. In the Elim district, ten of the 22 clinics had no water.
(Source: SAPA, 8/3/00)

Keywords	This Item is associated with the Following Keywords: .
You Can Comment on this Item, or View other people's Comments
Easy Print  Email to a friend

	Related News
	KwaZulu-Natal prepares to tackle cholera, malaria and AIDS (2001-02-09) Number of new cholera cases rockets (2001-01-25) SA spends R90-million a year on malaria control: MRC (2001-05-31) Countrywide cholera death toll at 137 (2001-02-23) Over R3-billion for primary healthcare in KZN (2001-03-29)

	Related Publications
	The Cholera Outbreak: A 2000-2002 case study of the source of the outbreak in the Madlebe Tribal Authority areas, uThungulu Region, KwaZulu-Natal (2002-03-13) Health Care in Northern Province: Implications for planning (2000-05-18) Health care and welfare services in the Ngwaritsi-Makhudu-Thamaga-Tubatse-Steelpoort (NMTTS) district, Northern Province - A situational analysis (2000-05-18) The impact of rationalised pharmaceutical procurement and distribution and of the essential drugs programme implementation - Northern Province Report: Evaluation 2 (2001-05-18) TB Control in the Lower Orange District: Northern Cape - Technical Report10 (2000-06-19)

	Related Health Statistics
	Population % by province (2004-09-06) Per capita expenditure (non-hospital PHC) (2007-08-17) Reported cases of malaria (per 100 000) (2006-06-07) Reported deaths from malaria (2006-06-07) Reported cases of malaria (2006-06-07)

	Related Events
	Invitation to the launch of The Cholera Outbreak report (2002-03-25) 3rd Pan-African Conference on Malaria (2002-11-01) International Conference on Improving Use of Medicines (ICIUM2004) (2004-03-30) Effective Hospital Risk Management - Improving potential for financial fitness (2004-11-22) The Mobile Health Clinics Forum 2005 (2005-04-15)

	Related links
	Centre for HIV/AIDS Networking (HIVAN) Department of Health and Welfare, Limpopo Province National Malaria Research Programme Medicines for Malaria Venture WHO HIV/AIDS

	Related Content
	ISDS Site: Kgalagadi District (2004-05-10) ISDS Site: Frances Baard District (2004-05-10) ISDS Site: uMkhanyakude District Municipality (2004-05-10) Summary Bulletin 8 - DHS-LG Discussion List (2004-07-16) ISDS Site: Alfred Nzo District (2004-05-10)