Ryder Gabathuse
17 January 2008
Francistown — Health Minister, Sheila Tlou fears contamination of water in Mahalapye to be responsible for the outbreak of diarrhoea that has hit children in the area.
Speaking in an interview yesterday, the worried Tlou declared: "As the Ministry of Health (MoH), we are dependent on other ministries for our effective delivery of service".
She stressed that after visiting Mahalapye on Tuesday with her management team, "we suspect that the source of diarrhoea that has resulted in the death of four children and hospitalisation of others could be the contamination of water in the area".
Her main worry was that since there were pools of water around Mahalapye, there were people who were drinking from these pools, which could be hazardous to their health and their children. Young children mainly got affected because of their poor resistance to the attacks of diseases like diarrhoea.
She advised those who used pool waters to boil the water before it could be used to combat possible contamination cases.
"We need to work with the department of Water Affairs in Mahalapye to ensure that issues of cross-contamination are averted especially on potable water. It is possible that impurities could have found their way into boreholes which supply water to Mahalapye, especially after the recent heavy downpours across the country," said Tlou.
The health minister pointed out that it was possible that after the recent heavy downpours, the source of water supply in Mahalapye could also be affected "as it was the case even in the previous outbreak in 2006 which gripped the vast Central District Council (CDC)".
She said that recently in some areas in Ghanzi, some boreholes supplying water to the township were contaminated after the heavy downpours, forcing the impurities into the water source.
The 2006 diarrhoea outbreak mainly in the vast CDC resulted in about 29, 000 recorded cases of diarrhoea and about 450 children dead. The outbreak later spread to other areas across the country. Tlou said water was contaminated in the Serowe/Palapye Sub District then and occasioned the infant mortality. "It was then found out that it was an intestinal parasite, which causes diarrhoea, and known as crypto-sporidium, which has also sparked the current outbreak in Mahalapye," explained Tlou.
She denied reports that children have died at the Mahalapye primary hospital due to negligence of the health workers.
She added that in some instances, children who succumb to the fatal diarrhoea are those who have HIV/AIDS related illnesses and others because of their vulnerability.
Meanwhile, the acting officer-in-charge of the Mahalapye department of water affairs branch, Kepatilwe Raesima explained that they do not have any concrete evidence as to what could be the source of the diarrhoea in Mahalapye.
She explained that in so far as they are concerned, "water is regularly tested every week and it is so far fit for human drinking". She denied reports that water supply in Mahalapye could be contaminated after the recent downpours, "as otherwise our weekly tests could have picked up the level of contamination".
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We will be holding a Water Management Conference in Sandton,South africa and i wish to forward information about it to the relevant authourities.If you can assist me with the correct email adresses. You can forward them to archie@forumafrica.co.za.Thank you