“Mash East Province has nine districts of which four are traditionally malaria high risk areas: Mudzi, Mutoko, Uzumba-Maramba-Pfungwe and Murehwa. But due to climatic change some malaria free-zones like Goromonzi District, which border Murehwa, are now suffering malaria outbreaks,” he told The Zimbabwean.
Zizhou said most local people were farmers who cultivated crops such as tomatoes and onions throughout the year.
“While we do indoor-residual spraying, distribution of mosquito nets, training of village health workers in rapid diagnosis testing and treatment of malaria, agricultural activities are reversing the gains.
“Due to hot sun in the afternoon most people water their gardens in the evening and get mosquito bites before they go to sleep,” he said.
Zizhou said there was need for people to wear protective clothing.
According to a Mash East, Case Management Report of 2011, poor case management also contributed to malaria deaths, although this was a small proportion.
“Goromonzi district deaths are secondary to both poor case management, low index of suspicion by staff (district was previously not considered malaria-prone so case management trainings were minimum) and late presentation. Mutoko district case management is poor in comparison with other high malaria districts which have received the same resources in training,” reads the report.
However, Zizhou said Malaria incidences and deaths in the province had scaled down in recent years.
“This year’s figures are lower than last year’s in both prevalence and deaths,” he said.
Post published in: News