By MILDRED KATONGO –
COPPERBELT province last year recorded an increased number of typhoid and dysentery cases although it did not have any cholera.
Provincial medical officer Consity Mwale said despite the Copperbelt not recording cholera cases, it had more typhoid and dysentery cases last year.
Dr Mwale said all typhoid patients were treated and that their homes were traced and disinfected.
He said in a statement yesterday that the medical office had conducted active disease surveillance and sensitisation in the districts and some hospitals in the province.
“During the period under review, the province did not record any cholera cases. However, the province did record an increase in typhoid fever and dysentery cases which are waterborne diseases,” he said.
Dr Mwale said communities had been sensitised and provided with granule and liquid chlorine through district offices to help prevent typhoid and other diarrhoea diseases.
He said sensitisation on good hygiene practices such as keeping surroundings clean, boiling drinking water, food safety and chlorination of drinking water was meant to prevent typhoid.
Dr Mwale stated that respiratory infections and malaria also continued to be the most common diseases affecting the population on the Copperbelt, with dental diseases being the least among the top 10 diseases.
He said drugs to treat the diseases were available in all health facilities.
Meanwhile, 22 community health assistants were trained in Ebola virus Disease preparedness and response in 2015.
Dr Mwale said the province also held an Ebola sensitisation meeting with 30 journalists and 10 health promotion officers from Northern, Luapula and Copperbelt provinces on Ebola.