16 Oct 2018

Health practitioners in the Mahalapye Sub-district appreciate the support stakeholders rendered them in combating diarrhoea.

In an interview with BOPA recently, Mahalapye District Hospital public relations officer, Ms Pauline Bontle said health practitioners had engaged the sub-district leadership and the community through different fora since the outbreak of diarrhoea.

She said the virus affected mostly children under the age of five, noting that in an effort to intensify community outreach publicity messages on the diseases were taken to community gatherings such as churches and kgotla meetings.

Ms Bontle said they had also conducted weekly leadership meetings, adding that dikgosi were instrumental in the campaign.

“So far we have managed to address 16 churches and 16 day care centres in Mahalapye,” she said, adding that the community in other locations outside Mahalapye were also engaged.

Village Health Committees are also engaged in educating the community, she said.

As a result of concerted efforts from all concerned stakeholders, Ms Bontle said her office was impressed by the decline in cases of diarrhoea.

Ms Bontle said in the past week 10 babies were admitted with signs of dehydration while other 22 with signs of diarrhoea were attended to and released after receiving treatment.

She said outreach strategies were also put in place to engage communities in hard to reach locations as a result of the terrain such as ranches in the sandveldt, noting that health mobile stop visits were used to reach out to people in such locations.

She further appealed to members of the community to maintain the standards of hygiene at home.

Ms Bontle said a clean environment was primary in combating diarrhoea while applauding mothers for responding well on time when their babies showed signs of diarrhoea.

Ms Bontle also noted that when the first incidents of diarrhoea were recorded, it was noted that some mothers were reluctant to bring their babies for medical attention as they only responded under severe circumstances.

She however said that since the campaign intensified the community was responding well on time.

She has further cautioned the community to desist from seeking help from traditional healers when their babies show signs of diarrhoea, only to visit the hospitals when the situation got out of hand.

She added that traditional healers were also engaged and advised to refer children with signs of diarrhoea to health practitioners in their areas.

Ms Bontle also added that even though hospitals and clinics at times experienced shortage of some drugs, it was fortunate that since the outbreak, the sub- district was well positioned and ready to combat the disease and they never faced shortage of the required formula and medication. ENDS