Home | Business | FESBC’S WARNING TO GOVT

FESBC’S WARNING TO GOVT

18/05/2020 08:12:00 Sabelo Majola

Font size:

MBABANE – The Federation of the Eswatini Business Community (FESBC) has warned that Eswatini government should reopen the economy gradually once data shows it is safe.

According to FESBC Vice President Hezekiel Mabuza, this is an urgent issue, as more than 200 million people are undernourished in the Sub-Saharan African Region, and the pandemic is making the hunger situation worse. Undernourished people have weaker immune systems and may be at greater risk of severe illness if infected. On the other side, we also know that obesity and diabetes are linked to a higher risk of hospitalisation and death related to COVID-19. Mabuza said as far as the situation was concerned, there were now more than 72 000 confirmed cases on the African continent and almost 2500 people had sadly lost their lives. He said of this week, the pandemic had reached all 47 countries in the World Health Organisation (WHO) African Region, with a case being confirmed in Lesotho yesterday.

Average

“On average, over the past two weeks, 1500 new cases have been reported every day in the WHO African Region. As our Kingdom relax social measures – and this needs to be done step-by-step, informed by data, with scaled-up public health capacities including testing – communities must be informed and enabled to implement preventive measures like physical distancing, hand hygiene, covering the mouth and nose when coughing, and disinfecting surfaces, also covering the mouth and nose with a mask when people are out in public,” he said.
Mabuza said continuity of essential services was also incredibly important. He said this week, a new modelling study by WHO and UNAIDS indicated that there could be 500,000 extra deaths from HIV-AIDS-related illness in sub-Saharan Africa, if antiretroviral therapy is disrupted for six months.

He said the World Health Statistics published by WHO last week, reported that sub-Saharan Africa accounts for 66 per cent of the world’s maternal deaths, and only one in two women have their family planning needs met. So, every woman should have access to quality health care, and this reaffirms the importance of continuing with providing essential services, even as we respond to the COVID-19 pandemic.