Zambezi malaria outbreak worsens, deaths reported amid drug shortages

Zambezi regional Faith Leader Advocacy for Malaria Elimination chairperson Benjamin Limbo says the malaria outbreak is worsening annually, with cases currently at 8 793.

He adds that there have been seven deaths since January.

The Zambezi region is one of the 10 malaria-endemic regions prone to malaria outbreaks.

Limbo yesterday told The Namibian that over 315 patients are currently admitted with malaria, adding that malaria is the biggest threat to residents and visitors that come to the region at the moment.

“The region experiences outbreaks annually because the health ministry has lost the vision of elimination and is instead focusing on controlling. They have indirectly accepted that malaria is a disease that has come to stay with us.

“There are no deliberate policies aimed at accelerating the elimination of malaria. Malaria does not have to kill anyone in Namibia because it’s curable and preventable,” he said.

Limbo further said the poor coordination between the regional and central government structures in terms of procurement and timely deliveries of malaria commodities is hampering the fight against malaria.

“There is no intensive supervision on regional ministry malaria agents most of the time; they are busy with personal issues. The community is not well engaged to fully participate in the elimination efforts. Staff members are not adequately trained to offer the required standard of service, especially the spraying operators,” he said.

Limbo said the health ministry should start putting their focus towards the elimination of malaria by allocating more resources to the Zambezi region to enable it to eliminate malaria.

“Establish a well-functioning social and behavioural change communication focal office in the Zambezi region to disseminate information about malaria and constantly mobilise the community to be part of the programme. Set clear targets and goals on elimination, starting with short-term goals. This will assist in directing resources and efforts to what is important now. Draft and implement policies that are aimed at accelerating the elimination agenda,” he said.

A senior nursing staff member, who spoke to The Namibian on condition of anonymity yesterday, said the hospital and some clinics are once again out of malaria medication, while other clinics and health centres are running critically low.

“It’s a disaster at the moment. The management is playing with people’s lives because they wait until the medicine is finished to order more. However, it seems like the central medical stores are also out of antimalarial medication because the region received medicine yesterday but no malaria medicine,” the source said.

Ministry executive director Ben Nangombe says he could not respond yesterday because he was attending a workshop and requested time to provide a comprehensive report at a later stage.

The regional health director, Woitha Kapumburu, did not respond to questions sent to him.