Six children died from diarrhoea
in four days in Swaziland / eSwatini and about another 1,000 others have been
treated for the infection caused by the rota virus, a senior official said on
Monday.
Deaths from this preventable
disease occur in the kingdom every year. But the government, ruled by King
Mswati III as the last absolute monarch in sub-Saharan Africa, is broke and
continually fails to tackle to problem.
The latest round of deaths
was announced by Director of Health Services Vusi Magagula on Monday (5 August
2019), the APA
news agency reported.
‘These fatal cases are a
result of delayed treatment,’ he said. The deaths occurred at two health
centres in the south of the kingdom.
Out of the 1,000 children
aged five years and below, most were admitted to hospital.
In Swaziland diarrhoea is
rated among the top three causes of mortality especially amongst children under
five years of age. In the worst case in recent years in 2014 at least 40 children died during an outbreak. Hundreds were hospitalised and
more than 3,000 cases were recorded.
In 2014 the World
Bank estimated 17.6 percent of children
aged under five suffered from diarrhoea
in a two week period it surveyed.
Diarrhoea is a preventable
disease. It is a bowel infection often caused by
contaminated water or food. According
to the website of the Centres for Disease Control and
Prevention, a 25-pack of
one dose vials of rotavirus vaccine to immunise against diarrhoea costs US70.49
(E1,050) at commercial rates. Typically a child needs two doses to be
immunised.
APA reported the Swaziland
Ministry of Health was downplaying the latest cases claiming it did not amount
to an ‘outbreak’.
Swaziland is broke and
public services are grinding to a halt. All kinds of medicines are in short supply in public hospitals and clinics because the
government has failed to pay suppliers. Nursing posts and other vacancies
remain unfilled as part of a government policy to cut its wages bill. At least
400 qualified nurses are unemployed, Dr Vusi Magagula recently told a
meeting of pensioners in Mbabane.
Seven in ten of Swaziland’s
estimated 1.3 million population live in abject poverty with incomes less than
the equivalent of US$2 per day. The King has 13 palaces. He also owns fleets of
top-of-the range Mercedes and BMW cars. His family regularly travel the world
on shopping trips spending millions of dollars each time.
The King wore a watch worth US$1.6 million and a suit beaded with diamonds weighing 6 kg, at his 50th birthday party. Days
earlier he took delivery of his second private jet, a A340 Airbus, that after
VIP upgrades reportedly cost US$30 million. He received E15 million (US$1.2 million) in
cheques, a gold dining room suite and a gold lounge suite among his birthday gifts.
See also
Six children die in Swaziland in diarrhoea
outbreak. Vaccines short since government has not paid suppliers
Swaziland nurses picket, drugs run out, lives put
at risk as government fails to pay suppliers
Medicine shortage: five die
Swazi King parties while children die
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