Ndama’s San community plagued by unidentified infectious disease, pleads for government assistance
The Women’s Leadership Centre (WLC) has confirmed that many members of the San community of Ndama, an informal settlement near Rundu, are plagued by an unidentified infectious skin disease.
Aulleria Muyakuyi, Community Leader of WLC said that many members of the San community of Ndama have open wounds and scars all over their bodies, including children and elders.
“This first started in February 2020 in Nconocoma village, where some children from Ndama visited their relatives and came back with rashes that later developed into open wounds and spread throughout the village and I further visited Likwaterera village and the situation there is the same, which seems to only be happening to the San communities,” she said.
She explained that some community members visited nearby clinics and hospitals seeking help but were just given paracetamol and calamine lotion to apply, others were told to go to private pharmacies to secure medication for themselves.
“The treatments offered did not help and there have been no blood tests or an other relevant tests done to determine the cause of this infection, but the staff from the Ministry of Health nor any community health workers have visited the villages to do an investigations,” she said.
“WLC and the San community are calling on the Ministry of Health and Social Services, the Office of the President: Office of the Marginalised and the Office of the Ombudsman to intervene and attend to this issue with absolute urgency.”
“This is a highly infectious disease that is spreading fast among the San communities and we demand that their right to health and dignity be respected,” stated the Centre.
