 | This section of the website contains a comprehensive range of topics relevant to Conditions and Diseases for Health Professionals. These topics include information on Communicable and Non-Communicable Diseases.
Communicable diseases are diseases that are infectious, infecting mostly children from poor communities.Bad living conditions make these children susceptible to otherwise preventable illnesses .Examples are malnutrition, polio, tuberculosis and measles.
Non-communicable diseases affect individuals and cannot be passed onto others.They are caused largely by reduced physical activity, bad eating habits, alcohol and smoking. Examples are cardio vascular (heart) diseases and strokes.
The Communicable and Non-Communicable Diseases Directorates are responsible for reducing the spread of all these diseases in the Province of the Eastern Cape.Their primary focus are on the vaccination of children against common infections.
The directorates therefore run campaigns to encourage parents to have their children immunised against diseases such as polio, measles and neo-natal tetanus. The directorates monitors polio, tetanus and measles on an ongoing basis.They also facilitate the provision of supplementary feeding to children most at risk at all health facilities.They have prioritized the reproductive health women by facilitating access to safe termination of pregnancy services, making contraceptives available and training health workers in counselling and termination of pregnancy policy.They have targeted breast cancer and run awareness programmes about the disease.
The directorates are also responsible for monitoring and reducing the rate of tuberculosis infection.
Outbreak response teams are being put in place in each region to respond speedily to sudden outbreaks.
Key Challenges
• To reduce severe malnutrition, the prevalence of stunting and Vitamin A deficiency in children under the age of five
• To assist in the implementation of the Prevention of Mother to Child Transmission (PMTCT) with a focus on the follow-up of babies on the programme.The programme includes the provision of formula milk to children;
• To ensure that appropriate test kits are available and the necessary training is conducted at all health facilities;
• To make immunisation available at all primary health facilities in the province;
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