Mmegi.bw: US diarrhoea report shocks Botswana
This is a bit late, but I wanted to at least share the Mmegi article that ran in response to the Washington Post article on infant feeding in July. There's a lot I could say about this, but won't because the whole issue is very politically sensitive. Just wanted to make sure to share both sides of the story.
Click on the "continue reading" link to see the full-text of the article.
US diarrhoea report shocks Botswana
25 July 2007
MONKAGEDI GAOTLHOBOGWE
CORRESPONDENT
The Ministry of Health has expressed shock at American news reports linking the outbreak of diarrhoea in Botswana last year to HIV/AIDS.
Says MoH spokesman Colo Boitshoko: "We saw the report. It shocked everyone. But there is no truth in what it is saying. At this point, we have decided not to release any official statement regarding the report.
"Our position remains the same as always about the 2006 diarrhoea outbreak. After a meeting with Ministry officials, we thought we should just ignore the report."
The report, in the influential Washington Post newspaper of July 23, linked the 532 Batswana children's deaths that occurred at the height of the diarrhoea epidemic early last year to bottle-feeding as a safer alternative to breastfeeding by HIV-positive mothers.
The report attributes the information to a team of American investigators invited by the Botswana Government which found that most of the affected children's deaths were the result of bottle-feeding as mothers avoided breastfeeding for fear of infecting their children with HIV.
Thus, according to the Washington Post report, diarrhoea became a disastrous effect of steps by Government to cut HIV infection by demanding that children be bottle-fed.
Boitshoko is especially piqued by this particular aspect of the report, which he describes as "a blatant distortion".
He says the diarrhoea outbreak was not confined to Botswana; several countries in the region were similarly blighted by the scourge. If the investigators' findings were true, the deaths would have continued till now.
Boitshoko says last year's epidemic was caused mainly by rains. This year, health authorities acted early, educating the public on how to avoid diarrhoea by means of cellphone sms, newspaper adverts and radio and television jingles.
Last year, the Director of Public Health Mmatsae Balosang said the gastroenteritis virus was behind the outbreak that affected mainly children under five. She attributed rising numbers of infections and deaths to insufficient information among parents, who often delayed taking their children for medical attention, believing themselves capable of giving proper care and cure.
Such parents usually brought their children forward for medical attention when the children were already far too weak. Although the diarrhoea was not confined to children, Balosang said it had taken a greater toll on children because children's immune systems are not fully developed.
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