02 Sep 2024

Ngami District Health Management Team (DHMT) has registered over 600 cases of diarrhoea among children under 5 years of which 17 lost their lives in the last two months.

Giving an update on health issues during the launch of month of prayer held at Bogosi Ward on September 1, Head of Preventative from Letsholathebe hospital, Dr Keabetswe Solomon revealed that they have recorded 623 cases of which 121 children experienced fluid loss while 16 had blood stains in their stools.

Out of the 17 deaths, she said nine children died at home noting that the number was shocking. DHMT, she said had engaged the office of the District Commissioner about the issue and requested to collect some water samples for further testing in an effort to establish what could be the cause of the deaths.

However, Dr Solomon advised members of the community to boil water before drinking as well as exercise good hygiene to minimise risks. Other interventions to prevent diarrhea, she mentioned included hand washing with soap, safe drinking water and use of improved sanitation.

Parents were also advised not to delay to take affected children to health facilities as that could help increases chances of speedy recovery.

On other health issues, the gathering was advised to exercise caution against Mpox disease which spreads through contact with infected person. However, Dr Solomon said Botswana had not yet registered any case.

With regard to non-communicable diseases, the gathering learnt that hypertension and sugar diabetes were on the increase as the district recorded 9 069 patients of hypertension and 3 418 of diabetes.

To control the diseases, Dr Solomon said Matshwane Clinic had been identified to be a centre of excellence for such diseases adding that patients could also access treatment in other health facilities.

The district, she said was also doing well in controlling HIV/AIDS and reaching the declaration target set by the United Nations in providing lifesaving HIV treatment and reducing number of new infections.

“The declaration ensures that 95 per cent of people living with HIV know their status, 95 per cent who know their status are receiving HIV treatment and 95 per cent of people on treatment are virally suppressed. As such our district is doing well in reaching the target as 83 per cent know their status, 98 per cent are on HIV treatment and 99 per cent are virally suppressed,” said Dr Solomon.

She further said the Treat All Strategy launched in 2016 was also producing results in the district citing that many facilities were providing HIV services to 15 448 people of which 79 were children under the age of 12.

The strategy eloquently promotes universal health coverage and ensures that all who test positive get treatment no matter their viral load. In addition, Dr Solomon revealed that they were providing free HIV treatment to 365 non- citizens since the decision by the government to expand free antiretroviral therapy to immigrants in 2019.

She appreciated that they were working hand in hand with other non-governmental organisations to help in testing. Another programme that the district was doing well on, she said was Prevention of Mother to Child Transmission (PMCT) saying in 2023 they registered only two babies who tested HIV positive while this year, only one baby was registered because the mother was a defaulter.

Dr Solomon appealed to pregnant mothers to register for PMCT well on time as the intervention helped to reduce the spread of HIV from mothers to their babies. Ends