10 Jun 2014

Public health specialist, Dr Christopher Chembe, has urged private practitioners to report systematically on weekly basis new cases of notifiable diseases to ensure they are kept under control.

Speaking during a meeting to update practitioners about health issues in the Ngamiland District, Dr Chembe it was a must that all of them report to the District Health Management Team (DHMT) even if there were no cases reported.

Dr Chembe said the data would assist his department to reflect the district profile and know what could be done in case of an outbreak.

Through reports from private doctors, the DHMT would also have data about people who had access to health services in the district. He said the DHMT was compelled to give a report to the Ministry of Health and without the input of the private doctors, the report would be incomplete.

He also said cases of diarrhoea and malaria were the major concern in the district, noting that 29 children aged six months to six years died of malaria in 2012. He called on private medical practitioners to join hands with the government to prepare for prevention of malaria.

He said diarrhoea and malaria were purely preventable diseases as they are seasonal and emphasized the need to work as a team to curb the diseases. Dr Chembe noted that 50 per cent of the children died at the hospital. He said he hoped that would never happen again if public and private medical practitioners worked together.

Dr Chembe appealed to private medical practitioners to abide by the rules and regulations of Ministry of Health as reflected in their licences. He said they should regard themselves as partners but not competitors to public health practitioners.

He warned private medical practitioners that they would face the wrath of the law if they ignored the rules and regulations that govern their practice. He also warned pharmacists to stop consulting patients because it was unethical to do so.

“You should advise patients to go and consult doctors first so that they could be diagnosed”, he added. He emphasized that diarrhoea deaths were preventable if doctors gave patients due care.

Most children died because of diarrhoea-related dehydration. Furthermore, the DHMT was collaborating with traditional doctors to convince them to refer patients to clinics and hospitals. Malaria-prevention efforts were ongoing, with indoor residual spraying having covered 62 per cent of the households.

Dr Chembe urged people to hurry to clinics when they detected symptoms of malaria or diarrhoea. Ends