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Ten people have died of malaria in Chisamba District in the month of March alone.
And the total number of patients increased to 67 patients in the In Patient Department (IPD) while the Out Patient Department (OPD) had 84 cases.
The total number of cases for the first quarter rose from 11,128 in the first quarter of 2013 to 12,342 in the first quarter of 2014
And Chisamba District Medical Officer Jerry Sinyangwe has attributed the upswing in the number of cases to lack of Indoor Residual Spraying (IRS) in the area for the past two years due to lack of funds.
Dr. Sinyangwe said the area has become a breeding ground for the mosquitoes because of the tall grass that surrounds most houses.
He pointed out that there is need to clear the drainage systems and drain the water as most parts of Chisamba are water logged.
Dr. Sinyangwe said distribution of mosquito nets could help but that they would not be enough and that the department lacked transport to reach out to distant parts of the district.
He said most malaria cases were from Mulungushi Agro, Muswishi, Chipembi and Mapula.
And Central Province Minister Obvious Mwaliteta expressed concern at the alarming numbers of people dying of malaria.
Mr Mwaliteta said there was need for immediate government intervention before a lot of lives are lost.
Speaking when he paid an on- the- spot check at Chisamba Health Centre, Mr Mwaliteta urged the District to quickly distribute Insecticide Treated Mosquito Nets to children adding that it was terrifying to see children lying in the hospital because of malaria.
Mr Mwaliteta appealed to commercial farmers in the area to help Liteta District hospital with a Generator set to cushion the power outages at the hospital.
He said this would help save lives as some of the children taken to the hospital were anemic and could be saved if the hospital had enough capacity to store blood samples.
Mr Mwaliteta said most of the children that were affected with malaria were children to commercial farmers’ workers.
The Minister said Government will build a District hospital for Chisamba especially that the population had out grown the current health facility.
He condemned the past governments for neglecting health facilities in rural areas.
