Hammanskraal: Here’s how Doctors Without Borders (MSF) is providing support to those affected by the Cholera outbreak
An area of Hammanskraal called Kanana is the epicentre of a cholera outbreak in South Africa’s Gauteng Province, which has thus far resulted in more than a dozen confirmed deaths from cholera. MSF has played a key role in the response since 26 May, guiding the establishment of a two-bed cholera treatment unit (CTU) in the community of Kanana. The CTU has seen a total of 112 patients – 50 cases in the first 48 hours of its existence, climbing to 62 cases in the following 48 hours.
MSF was asked to guide the establishment of the unit, ensure a safe patient flow system is in place, and provide technical support to the unit’s infection prevention and control department. The CTU has thus far referred twenty-one patients to nearby Jubilee Hospital, which has a total of 50 cholera beds.
“The CTU is making a difference by giving community members access to immediate care, and by taking some of the burden away from the referral facility,” said Dr Albert Leone, who is leading MSF’s medical team in the cholera response.
To prevent the further spread of cholera in the community, MSF has donated 1000 hygiene kits comprising ten oral rehydration solution tablets, five soap bars, 120 Aquatabs (enough to chlorinate 40 litres of water a day for a month), one 10-litre bucket with lid and tap for hand washing and one jerrycan with lid for potable water storage. The composition of the kits is derived from a study MSF conducted with the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, which showed that these items could bend the curve of a cholera outbreak when given to patients who are discharged.
“The distribution of the kits is currently in the hands of other actors, principally it is being done by City of Tshwane health care workers who were trained by us on how the various constituents should be used, and we have also advised that the families of people who have been admitted with cholera should be prioritised followed by the surrounding households,” said Danish Malik, who is leading the MSF water, sanitation and hygiene team.
There are 10’000 households in Hammanskraal, and the need for more intensive cholera health promotion is clear. The existence of the CTU is being communicated by loud hailing.
MSF will continue to monitor the outbreak and provide technical support to the response.
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About Doctors Without Borders (MSF)
Doctors Without Borders (MSF) is a global network of principled medical and other professionals who specialise in medical humanitarian work, driven by our common humanity and guided by medical ethics. We strive to bring emergency medical care to people caught in conflicts, crises, and disasters in more than 70 countries worldwide.
In South Africa, the organisation is recognised as one of the pioneers of providing Antiretroviral Treatment (ART) in the public sector and started the first HIV programmes in South Africa in 1999. Until today, the focus of MSF’s interventions in the country has primarily been on developing new testing and treatment strategies for HIV/AIDS and TB in Eshowe (Kwa-Zulu Natal) and Khayelitsha (Western Cape).
In Tshwane, we run a migration project, and we offer medical and psychosocial care to migrants, refugees, and asylum seekers, who struggle to access public health services under South Africa’s increasingly restrictive.
Previously we offered free, high-quality, confidential medical care to survivors of SGBV in Rustenburg.
To learn more about our work in South Africa, please visit this page on our website (www.msf.org.za). To support MSF’s work:
- SMS “JOIN” to 42110 to donate R30 Once-off
- Visit https://www.msf.org.za/donate
