Flooding poses serious health crisis
MBABANE – Heavy rains that left a trail of destruction in several areas in the country, pose a serious health crisis for some communities.
The country started experiencing heavy rains at the beginning of the month. The rains caused flooding in several areas, mostly the northern Hhohho and Lubombo regions. The rainwater ended up flushing away bridges and destroying roads in most of the affected areas. This affected communication links for some of these areas, as well other services. A fortnight ago, over 40 schools in the country suspended lessons because of flooded rivers, damaged roads and washed out bridges in some areas. Some people were left without a roof over their heads as their houses were destroyed by the heavy rains.
Worth noting, there are health facilities that are located along these communities. When schools were inaccessible, some health facilities were not accessible too. It is no secret that heavy rains that lead to flooding may spike diseases such as cholera. An outbreak of such can cause a serious health crisis. Luckily, despite the rains, the country has not recorded an increase of cholera cases thus far.
Infrastructure
However, the damages to road infrastructure and bridges pose a serious health threat, because accessing some health facilities in the country is still a struggle. The rains came while several public health facilities were facing medical drugs and supplies shortages. On February 11, 2023, the Minister of Health, Lizzie Nkosi, announced an improvement in the medicine stock at the Mbabane Government Hospital and in other government hospitals. She stated that anti-diabetic medicines like insulin were available. Other medication that was said to be in stock was hypertension, pain and other essential medication. Nkosi noted that the medication would run out of shelves as it was used and could be replenished from the Central Medical Stores (CMS) or other facilities as they continued receiving more supplies.
While government was making all the extra efforts to fix the medical drug shortage situation, the rains affected a number of areas, including health facilities, mostly those located in rural areas along gravel roads.
One of the communities that were affected were Dumenkungwini, in the Shiselweni Region. According to some of the residents, one of the roads that connects the community with the rest of the country, was affected. On top of that, a bridge that is used by residents to access schools and health facilities in the area was also damaged. The damage to the bridge at Ncotjane River has made accessing Mzipha Clinic a struggle. While people can walk through, the major challenge is accessing the clinic with a motor vehicle. Since the rains, some of the residents lamented that they could not get some medication because deliveries were affected due to the bad road and washed away bridges, hence the CMS vehicles struggled to navigate the area.
With the ongoing rains and roads remaining unfixed, some of the residents who use the clinic said they feared running out of medication because the CMS personnel raised concerns about reaching the clinic.
The community councillor (Bucopho) Bafana Sithole also attested to the challenges that were raised by some of his community members.
“Communication channels have been affected in the area and we don’t know long this situation will prevail,” he said.
“Teachers, Soldiers, nurses and the community members who use the bridge on a daily basis were at the receiving end,” he added.
Sithole said his main worry was the supply of medical supplies and drugs because the status of the bridge did not only pose a threat to healthcare staff reaching the health facility, which is used by over 2 000 people who stay in those communities but also the delivery of medical services in the communities.
Sithole urged government to come to their rescue and build a strong bridge
were Chairperson of the siSwati Board Inkhosikati Make LaKhumalo, Stanley Dlamini, who is Chief Executive Officer of the Eswatini National Council of Arts and Culture, Hhohho Regional Education Officer Thulisile Langwenya, senior Inspector of siSwati Language, Celiwe Mohammed and Acting Director of National Library services Dudu Kunene among others. Making her opening remarks, programme director Thandekile Nkambule thanked Imisebe for helping the Ministry of Education in preserving the siSwati language. She said Imisebe did not only publish great siSwati books, but they also sponsored events such as the International Mother Language Day.
Identity
She pointed out that it was siSwati that gave emaSwati their identity. Nkambule added that it was every liSwati’s duty to preserve siSwati. She said Imisebe were pioneers in preserving the language. Speaking during the same event, Hhohho Regional Education Officer, Thulisile Langwenya highlighted that pupils would learn better if they were taught in their mother language. Langwenya reiterated that everyone should put some effort in promoting siSwati. She called upon retirees to utilise their expertise in promoting the language. She said Imisebe was a beacon of hope in as far as promoting the language in the country was concerned. In her speech, Imisebe Managing Director Hlobsile Stromvig noted that the International Mother Language Day was sanctioned by UNESCO. She thanked this wing of the United Nations for the undivided that would withstand strong rains and higher than the water levels of the river to prevent further disruptions of communication channels that may affect service delivery.
Principal Secretary (PS) in the Ministry of Health Dr Simon Zwane said there was no need for the residents to panic, as there were interventions in place that were launched this year. He stated that these include a regional Pharmacist who would always be on constant surveillance.
“We use a manager’s social group to communicate in cases of shortages of drugs and if a facility has abundant stock. We then redistribute the stock. In the Shiselweni Region, through the effort of the regional public health matron, a joint mentoring and supportive supervision was formed and has been operational since January 2023,”he said.
Visits
“The team visits the clinics every Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. Whenever gaps are identified, Fridays are used to close those identified gaps. The team comprises of regional matron and matrons, regional pharmacist, regional lab, health promotion among others,” he said.
He noted that there were shortfalls at times in terms of availability of drivers among other areas, hence the need for recruitment of other officers.
The questions that were asked, were the degree at which the rains had damaged the roads and how this affected the CMS from delivering medical supplies in health facilities. The second question sought to ascertain the measures put in place by the ministry to ensure that supply of medication was not interrupted.
Principal Secretary in the Ministry of Public Works and Transport Thulani Mkhaliphi said government was working around the clock to address the challenges that were caused by the rains.
Worth, nothing some of these works are led by Micro-Projects. Last week, Micro-Projects Director Sibusiso Mbingo stated that government completed the refurbishment of 24 schools that were affected by the 2021 storms. He said they were waiting for the budget in order to finalise the refurbishment in most schools.
focus they gave towards the promotion of the mother language. Stromvig remarked that a mother language enhanced the culture of a people. She thanked all spheres of education in Eswatini who prioritised siSwati. She said Imisebe worked with the National Archives, National Libraries, National Curriculum Centre and the National Museum in promoting siSwati. She revealed that as Imisebe they were introspecting if they were doing enough in promoting siSwati. She said Imisebe had undertaken several initiatives that would help promote siSwati. These included making Umphandza, the first ever siSwati dictionary, available online, co-operating with other organisations and recognising siSwati writers. Stromvig added that as a 100 per cent Swati company, Imisebe was proud to showcase siSwati in all its forms. Meanwhile, the CEO of Arts and Culture, Stanley Dlamini commended Imisebe for arousing emaSwati’s reading appetite. Dlamini said countries that promoted their mother languages proved to have an intelligent population. He thanked Imisebe for bringing siSwati promoters together, adding that with the right attitude, Eswatini could join the likes of India and China in being the most productive countries. Inkhosikati Make LaKhumalo, the chairperson of siSwati Board, also thanked Imisebe for revitalising the siSwati language. She highlighted that a person who didn’t understand their mother language had no identity. She challenged attendees to work on reviving siSwati language’s appeal among emaSwati.