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It was only a matter of time before South Africa faced its first case of swine flu, and the DA hopes that the Department of Health will quickly be able to put emergency measures in place to stop this disease from becoming established in South Africa. We call on the minister to make a public announcement about his department's plans.
It is remarkable that after we called for an immediate response from the Health Department to the initial outbreak of swine flu, and warned that government's response had been muted, there has subsequently been little in the way of further action from government. It would be simply unacceptable if, more than a month later, no plan has yet been put in place by the Department of Health.
Swine flu has been declared a pandemic by the World Health Organisation. Despite this, concerns have been expressed for a while that the Department of Health is not taking the risk of this epidemic seriously. Unlike other countries, there is no routine scanning for illness symptoms in passengers from countries where swine flu has already become endemic.
South Africa has also not followed the example of other countries and used pamphlets and the media to inform the public about the importance of regular hand-washing to avoid infections, and the symptoms to look out for.
It is now time for some urgent measures to be taken to protect and inform South Africans. We must make sure that our hospitals do not get flooded with new patients when these hospitals are already under severe strain.
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