IN an effort to prevent and manage communicable diseases, including cholera and COVID-19, the Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality (NMBM) has committed to continue a wastewater surveillance programme in partnership with Nelson Mandela University (NMU), the SA Medical Research Council and the National Health Laboratory Service.
During a consultative workshop with stakeholders hosted by NMBM on June 8 in Gqeberha, discussion took place regarding the existing challenges.
Everyone involved in the workshop unanimously agreed that prevention of cholera or other communicable diseases in the region was necessary. Pro-active action through scientific investigations to detect cholera cases that may be present in the area should continue.
When cholera was discovered in January this year, NMBM took bold steps to conduct cholera surveillance in its area through wastewater surveillance. The aim of the cholera surveillance programme is to detect any early cases introduced into the city, in order to activate early government responses.
The Metro is building on existing partnerships that were formed during the height of COVID-19 pandemic with the SA Medical Research Council and NMU for health surveillance purposes.
NMBM Public Health Mayoral Committee member, Councillor Thsonono Buyeye, said that building capacity was essential in responding well to communicable diseases.
“The Municipal Health Services Directorate has a legal mandate for prevention and management of communicable diseases, and to conduct surveillance of communicable diseases in order to fulfil this mandate. The surveillance of communicable diseases is significant as it serves as an early warning system which can help reduce the impact of a health event or health threat, it provides timely and relevant information, health intelligence, in a systematic way for an effective response to a health threat.
“If effectively implemented, the surveillance programme can contribute to increasing the resilience of communities and health systems and can offer simultaneous support for the achievement of Sustainable Development Goals by reducing the loss of life and improving livelihood and life expectancy. We are fortunate that no cases of cholera have been detected in our city, but through these partnerships we will continue to do the precautionary work rather than being reactive,” said Buyeye.
Dr Patrick Nodwele, NMBM deputy director for Health Services, said that through the same surveillance programme the municipality has also conducted surveillance on the prevalence of substances that are resistant to antibiotics in its community.
“It is important for the Municipality to conduct this investigation, because when microorganisms such as bacteria become resistant to antibiotics they become harder to treat and may worsen the morbidity and mortality rates among those sick in the community. This reduces life expectancy and may promote the occurrence of opportunistic infections,” said Nodwele.
During the workshop the stakeholders also discussed the possibilities of expanding the disease surveillance programme.
“We have shared the data that we have and during the workshop had time to plan ahead. Once the different organisations approve the proposals discussed today on the expansion of the disease surveillance programme, the NMBM surveillance system will become bigger and more comprehensive. This is good news for the NMBM healthcare recipients because major health threats will be identified for better responses. It is good to note that the cholera surveillance programme has shown that so far there are no human cases of cholera in the NMBM area which is good news for the city. However, everyone has to remain vigilant, maintain adequate personal hygiene standards and report any severe diarrhoeal cases to a nearby health facility.”
– ISSUED BY THE
NELSON MANDELA BAY MUNICIPALITY
