Limpopo government ready to fight malaria

POLOKWANE

The annual Malaria Spraying campaign in Limpopo is underway. Last year 16 000 people contracted malaria in Limpopo and about 1%
of them died. More than 1 million houses will be sprayed for the next six months at a cost of R100 million. The campaign started at Folvhodwe village in Vhembe, close to Zimbabwe. 42 teams are deployed along the Zimbabwe and Mozambique borders, at the Burgersfort mines and along the Lephalale River.
The Limpopo MEC for health led the campaign on Tuesday. Limpopo Health MEC, Phophi Ramathuba says, “When people start
feeling sick they must not hesitate to go the clinics. The symptoms are the same as for flu. It is fever, headaches, body aches and vomiting. Don’t self-treat, when you realize it is something else than flu it might be too late.”
Neil Shikwambana, a spokesperson for the department, says the 42 teams will be dispatched across the province and will target at least one million houses between August 2018 and February 2019. “The Department calls on residents in Limpopo to cooperate with the spraying teams during the spraying campaign, and we are also urging those with malaria symptoms to visit their nearby health facilities for treatment,” he concluded.