The typhoid outbreak at Delmas in Mpumalanga is a clear reminder of the importance of environmental epidemiology, a senior health official said on Wednesday.
Deputy Director General of Health Kamy Chetty said: ”It very clearly brings out issues of environmental health and its health impact on people.”
She was speaking on behalf of Minister of Health Manto Tshabalala-Msimang, who was meant to deliver the opening address at the 17th conference of the International Society of Environmental Epidemiology in Sandton.
Chetty explained that Tshabalala-Msimang could not attend because of a bereavement in her family.
The conference is the first to be held in Africa, and Chetty hoped not the last. She added that the 2002/03 cholera outbreak in KwaZulu-Natal, like the typhoid epidemic, was the result of a failure to provide communities with safe drinking water.
”Safe water has a direct impact on people’s lives,” she said.
Providing potable water has been a major government priority since 1994.
In urban centres such as those in Gauteng, tap water is among the safest in the world, she told delegates.
Chetty added that the relationship between environmental hazards and public health is of great concern to the government and citizens alike.
She expressed satisfaction that the conference agenda contained many ”topical issues that need urgent attention”, but urged delegates to do more than talk: implementation was also vital.
The International Society of Environmental Epidemiology is a global organisation with members in more than 50 countries dedicated to fostering growth and rigour in epidemiological research, in order to identify the effects of environmental exposures on human populations; stimulate communication among epidemiologists, toxicologists, exposure analysts and others in related fields; and strengthen the impact of epidemiology on environmental health policy. — Sapa