Maun — Ngamiland region has registered 104 cases of malaria.

This was revealed by Ngami District Health Team (DHMT) acting coordinator, Dr Sandra Maripe-Ebutswe updating members of the District Emergency Operation Committee (DEOC) on malaria situation in the district.

She stated that more cases were recorded at Okavango DHMT with 65 while Ngami had 39 cases. She expressed concern about the rising numbers of case of malaria in the district. The acting coordinator appealed to the district leadership to join forces with DHMT to disseminate awareness messages to the public so that they could seek attention upon noticing early symptoms.

However, Dr Maripe- Ebutswe said malaria was a deadly disease which needed collective efforts.

She decried shortage of resources to fight malaria pandemic noting that recorded cases had stressed their little resources as malaria needed contact tracing just like COVID-19 pandemic.

In addition, their staff, she said was overwhelmed as they had to take care of malaria patients while at the same time conducting contact tracing for COVID-19 cases.

Dr Maripe-Ebutswe also noted that shortage of transport was a major challenge as they were failing to meet their standards as far as contact tracing was concerned.

Ngamiland is one of the districts prone to water borne disease such as malaria and diarrhea and malaria is said to be one of the killer diseases in Africa continent.

It is anticipated that cases could rise as the district continued to receive heavy rains hence it is important for the communities to be vigilant.

Reports indicate that the peak for malaria season was between October and May with the highest cumulative incidence of clinical malaria cases being recorded in February.

In an effort to prepare for Malaria outbreak, the health teams across the district normally embark on campaigns of spraying of homestead around October as well as encouraging people to clean their surroundings as mosquitoes, which cause malaria thrive in long grass and stagnant water.

Source : BOPA