Makhosazana Tsibu

The Environmental health officers at Rahima Moosa Mother and Child Hospital joined the rest of Southern African Development Community (SADC) in commemorating Malaria Week, 1-5 November. The activities of the day were aimed at educating patients on the disease, preventative methods, signs and symptoms as well as precautionary measures when traveling to malaria prone areas.
"This week, we are hosting malaria awareness campaign as we are approaching the festive season and most people will be traveling.  We want to equip patients with information so they can protect themselves and their loved ones," said the hospital's Chief Environmental Health Practitioner, Poppie Raphadu.
Raphadu added that people travelling to areas where malaria is common should take protective drugs before, during and after their trip.  In addition, people also use insecticides, protective clothing and bed nets.
Malaria is a life-threatening disease caused by parasites that are transmitted to people through the bites of infected female mosquitoes and can lead to death within 24 hours.
Malaria symptoms include fever, headache, general body aches and pains, general body weakness, nausea, vomiting, loss of appetite, diarrhoea and "the flu".  
Even though the Gauteng province is not a malaria endemic area, it continues to see and attend to malaria cases throughout the year. The Gauteng province sees on average between 2 000 to 3 000 malaria cases every year, whilst the number of malaria-related fatalities averages between 20 to 30 deaths in a year.  
The African continent carries the greatest  burden of malaria disease in the world being responsible for around 93 percent of the global 228 million malaria cases and 94 percent of the 405 000 malaria-related deaths that were reported globally in 2018.
The South African malaria elimination strategy aims to reduce new transmission by zero in 2023 and it comes at an important time as the SADC have renewed the commitment to eliminate malaria in the whole SADC region by 2030, with the target of zero local malaria cases and deaths.