"He further stressed the need to address sanitation, especially in the DRC [Democratic Resettlement Community] settlement in Swakopmund. There are mobile toilets but they are not regularly emptied, Gassama said. He also observed that cultural practices whereby an entire family wash their hands in one basin of water and dry their hands with one towel should be discouraged as germs will continue to spread. We need to promote handwashing with soap and running water. This is very important because once that is done"
They have mobile toilets but they do not get emptied and probably not used much. The family washes in the same basin and same water.Also all family uses one towel They also have to stress the use of soap and running water to was hands.
When they get to Europe or the US they will bring Hepatitis E. Look at how easily they spread Hepatitis A. It is spread now across the US. It is a very deadly disease and I know first hand, as I came down with it last November/December.
We need to close our borders - we are entitled to secure borders. Meanwhile, Trump continues to bring in thousands via the UN 'Refugee Resettlement Program'.
Patty
Published Date: 2018-10-30 14:08:53
Subject: PRO/EDR> Hepatitis E - Namibia (11)
Archive Number: 20181030.6119131
HEPATITIS E - NAMIBIA (11)
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A ProMED-mail post
http://www.promedmail.org
ProMED-mail is a program of the
International Society for Infectious Diseases
http://www.isid.org
Date: Tue 23 Oct 2018 09:08:10 CAT
Source: New Era Live [edited]
https://neweralive.na/posts/ experts-jet-in-to-assist-with- hepatitis-e-response
A team of experts consisting of an epidemiologist and a risk communication consultant are currently in the country to assist the Ministry of Health and Social Services through the WHO country office with its response to the hepatitis E epidemic. Speaking to New Era on [Fri 19 Oct 2018], Momodou Gassama, the WHO risk communication consultant from the Gambia said the team is in Namibia to strengthen risk communication, social mobilisation, and community engagement, among others.
Gassama said they observed challenges in the 2 weeks the team has been in the country. The country's emergency response plan for hepatitis E needs to be strengthened, said Gassama. "With emergencies you need to act fast in order to contain it," stressed Gassama.
The team has observed the need to strengthen the capacity of doctors and nurses. Coordination also needs to be strengthened, Gassama said.
Gassama feels that dealing with the outbreak of the disease should not be left to the Ministry of Health and Social Services alone, as all ministries can contribute in bringing the disease under control. "Emergencies are not a government show alone. We don't have to relax," noted Gassama. He said the communities are not fully doing their part to fight the disease. There is a need for community leaders to arise from within the affected communities in order to share the message of maintaining cleanliness in order to fight the disease.
"There is a need for human resource capacity to engage communities in their settings. There are not many people on the ground from the community and yet that is the way for this epidemic," said Gassama. He further stressed the need to address sanitation, especially in the DRC [Democratic Resettlement Community] settlement in Swakopmund. There are mobile toilets but they are not regularly emptied, Gassama said. He also observed that cultural practices whereby an entire family wash their hands in one basin of water and dry their hands with one towel should be discouraged as germs will continue to spread. "We need to promote handwashing with soap and running water. This is very important because once that is done transmission will be a thing of the past," he added.
Statistics from the Ministry of Health and Social Services from last week [week of 15 Oct 2018] show that there are 3630 cases of hepatitis E in 7 of the country's 14 regions. Windhoek and Swakopmund are hardest hit by the disease. "The biggest asset I found here is the political commitment from the leadership. A lot of activities went on when hepatitis E was declared an outbreak in December 2017. The government and partners are really committed to this. You need to act fast in emergencies in order to control it," stressed Gassama.
[Byline: Alvine Kapitako]
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Communicated by:
ProMED-mail from HealthMap Alerts
< promed@promedmail.org >
[Hepatitis E is found worldwide, and different genotypes of the hepatitis E virus determine differences in epidemiology. For example, genotype 1 is usually seen in developing countries and causes community-level outbreaks, whereas genotype 3 is usually seen in developed countries and does not cause outbreaks. Globally, 57 000 deaths and 3.4 million cases of acute hepatitis E are attributable to infection with hepatitis E virus genotypes 1 and 2. Many of the deaths are in pregnant women, characteristic of genotype 1.
The highest seroprevalence rates (number of persons in a population who test positive for the disease) are observed in regions where low standards of sanitation increase the risk for transmission of the virus. More than 60 percent of all hepatitis E infections and 65 percent of all hepatitis E deaths occur in east and south Asia, where seroprevalence rates of 25 percent are common in some age-groups. In Egypt, half the population aged above 5 years is serologically positive for the hepatitis E virus ( http://www.who.int/ mediacentre/factsheets/fs280/ en/index.html ). - Mod.LL
HealthMap/ProMED map available at:
Namibia: http://healthmap.org/promed/p/ 163 ]
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