[ Home ] [ Issues ] [ 2010 FIFA World Cup ]

Fact file – health readiness for 2010 World Cup

17 February 2010

Swine flu

We have 1.3 million doses of H1N1 vaccines and have been given another
3.5 million by the World Health Organisation (WHO). The Department of Health is preparing for two national immunisation campaigns for H1NI influenza.

The first immunisation campaign will be against H1N1 for people who are at high risk and will be as follows:

• Phase one will be between 15 March and 31 May will be for frontline clinicians in casualty, intensive care unit (ICU) and emergency medical services (EMS) personnel and children under the age of 15 years with HIV and AIDS.
• Phase two will be between 3 May and 31 May for pregnant women and patients attending specialist heart and lung disease clinics.

Not everyone needs to be vaccinated against the H1N1 virus.

Visitors to vaccinated by the private sector

Although the flu peaks in June and July, we would like to advise people who attend the private health sector including international visitors to get a vaccination against influenza at the end OF March before winter sets. We will communicate with visitors through our www.doh.gov.za website to keep them informed of health requirements and conditions, and to encourage visitors to act responsibly and stay healthy

Measles outbreaks

Although cases of measles were confined in Gauteng last year, we are concerned that there must be no repeat of the outbreak. To this end government has committed itself to conduct a massive national polio and vaccination campaign on the month of April. An immunisation campaign against polio and measles is as follows:

• The first round will be vaccinations against polio and measles from 12 and 23 April for children under the age of 15 years.
• The second round, between 24 and 28 May, will be for children under the age of five who will be given their second dose of the polio vaccine including Vitamin A supplements and deworming syrup or tablets.

Parents and caregivers are urged to sign consent forms for children to be immunised. The immunisations given during the national campaign do not replace the routine immunisation.

Outbreak response

A vigilant surveillance programme is in place for 2010. Outbreak response strategies have been reviewed and specialised outbreak response teams will be on standby in each province. Staff will also monitor arriving visitors at ports of entry. Standard operational procedures have been developed to deal with any eventuality including food poisoning outbreaks.

Condom distribution

The proposed target for procurement and distribution of male condoms for financial year 2009/10 is 450 million pieces which translates into 37.5 million pieces per month whilst the female condom target is 5 million. The distribution is based on monthly allocation of condoms to about 200 primary distribution sites that are chosen by the provinces. These sites are not restricted to Department of Health or other government facilities but may include non-governmental organisations (NGOs), community-based organisations (CBOs) and private facilities.

Source: Department of Health

[ Top ]

Last modified: 14 May 2010 11:27:46.