The Parliamentary Committee of Health has asked the government to, through the Ministry of Health, declare that the country is facing a scabies outbreak.
According to reports, over 4,000 cases have been registered across the country and children under the age of 15 are among the patients.
Committee chairperson Matthews Ngwale said it is unfortunate that the Ministry of Health has been silent though cases continue to rise.
“Since the first cases were registered in Mzuzu City and other districts in the Southern Region, the ministry has never shared with Malawians how it is dealing with the disease, which has gone out of hand.
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“As at now, our committee has received reports that many districts in the Central and Southern region have also registered cases. In terms of preparing for the crisis in Mzuzu, nobody did. Now the disease has gone out of hand as there are cases in Blantyre and Lilongwe, which means it is a national problem. We think that the ministry should declare scabies a disaster in our country,” Ngwale said.
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He further asked the government to stock public hospitals, including health centres both in rural and urban areas, with adequate drugs in order to contain the disease.
District Environmental Health Officers President Chimwemwe Jella said the government should invest more funds in sensitising community members to hygiene and sanitation issues in order to contain the disease.
“Let government equip our offices with resources so that we can reach out to the communities and sensitise people to issues related to the disease. By doing so, we are going to reduce the cases, particularly in rural areas,” Jella said.
Similarly, Society of Medical Doctors (SMD) in Malawi said the ministry should take heed of pieces of advice to avert the recurrence of outbreaks such as cholera and Covid.
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SMD spokesperson Zaziwe Gundah said, to make matters worse, some public hospitals have inadequate drugs for scabies because the majority of district hospitals already drained their budgets.
“The little which district hospitals are getting is being used for buying essential drugs. Scabies drugs are not a priority,” Gunda said.
Ministry of Health spokesperson Adrian Chikumbe was not immediately available for a comment.
According to the World Health Organisation, scabies is a contagious, intensely itchy skin condition caused by tiny, burrowing mites.
