31 Jul 2018

Sehithwa community has been hailed for taking the lead in the fight against malaria.

The community emerged the champions during a competition organised by Ngami District Health Management Team (DHMT) and was awarded a trophy, three spades and five rakes to motivate them continue with the fight against the disease.

Handing over the award at a kgotla meeting, chief registered nurse, Ms Obonetse Gubago praised the community for the achievement, which she said was possible through cooperation and team work.

She said all stakeholders’ participation was crucial as government alone could not eradicate malaria.

Ms Gubago noted that the achievement had shown that the community responded positively and complied with Indoors Residual Spraying (IRS) programme during the campaign.

This year, she said the district aimed at 97 per cent coverage and managed 87 per cent in Sehithwa as most residents were willing to open  their houses for spraying. During the assessment exercise, she said, many answered the questions satisfactorily.

Ms Gubago said there were some people who frustrated the health officers’ efforts by not cooperating during the spraying exercise.

She said the programme faced challenges of failure to comply from community members.

She added that people who refused IRS put conditions such as no access to locked houses, food storages, with some refusing because they say they have  newborn babies in the houses while some claimed to be suffering from asthma.

Ms Gubago called all to play a role in the fight against the disease noting that a collective effort could make it possible to eradicate malaria.

Meanwhile, Ngamiland was reported to be prone to malaria due to major rivers such as Thamalakane and Mohembo which were breeding places for mosquitoes. ENDS