Malaria claims 69 lives countrywide

Minister of health and social services Esperance Luvindao says malaria has caused 69 deaths countrywide in the past year.

Speaking at a World Health Day event at Katima Mulilo yesterday, Luvindao said the deaths were among the 35 412 malaria cases reported countrywide.

Luvindao said the outbreak is so severe that within the last week alone about 5 256 new cases were reported across Namibia, with three deaths.

She said districts such as Katima Mulilo, Andara, Nkurenkuru, Nyangana, Rundu, Ncamagoro, and Outapi are the worst-hit by the malaria outbreak.

“Malaria is a preventable and treatable disease. One life lost to malaria is one too many. The government remains committed to ensuring that malaria prevention and treatment services are available to all.

“While the government and our partners continue to provide the necessary resources and interventions, it is important to emphasise that malaria prevention starts with each and every one of us,” she said.

The minister implored communities to seek medical attention immediately when experiencing malaria symptoms such as fever, chills, headaches, and muscle pain.

Furthermore, she said people should sleep under treated mosquito nets every night, allow their homes to be sprayed by indoor residual spraying teams, eliminate mosquito breeding sites by removing stagnant water around homes and communities, and clear grass surrounding homes. “The increase in malaria cases can be attributed to climatic conditions favourable for malaria transmission and low intervention coverage such as indoor residual spraying, which recorded sub-optimal coverage below the required 85% for the past few years. This is a serious concern, coupled with late health-seeking behaviour, which can lead to severe malaria cases with consequent deaths,” she said.

Luvindao launched the National Risk Communication and Community Engagement Strategy, which aims to empower healthcare professionals and stakeholders on how to engage communities, communicate health risk factors, and intervene strategically to stop outbreaks.

She said the strategy would enable standardisation and ensure proper channels of communication are followed to avert confusion during an outbreak, and how to maximally use the media and engage communities in the national response.