The National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD) has created an online health guide for World Cup tourists.
“This event poses specific challenges given its size, the diversity of attendees and the potential for transmission of imported and/or endemic communicable diseases,” says the NICD.
It explains that endemic diseases include those circulating as a result of current outbreaks, as well as those occurring only in specific regions of the country.
Exercise prevention
NICD communications manager Nombusa Shabalala says the guide is constantly updated. It consists of information about important health topics, including food and water safety, Hepatitis A, influenza, malaria, measles, meningococcal disease, polio, rabies, Rift Valley fever, sexually transmitted infections, tick bite fever, tuberculosis and yellow fever, she explains.
“We provide general travel recommendations focusing on preventive measures, including vaccinations that will assist visitors in experiencing a healthy World Cup.”
Shabalala also says the guide gives information about the precautions people need to take to protect themselves from these diseases, whether they are locals or visiting from abroad.
“We are working on getting the information placed on the Web sites of our counterparts in the US and Europe, which are the Centre for Disease Control, in Atlanta, and The Health Protections Agency, in the UK. We'll also work with the South African Medical Association, and the Medical Research Council, and we are looking at approaching various tourism councils as well,” says Shabalala.
Wide reach
The guide was created specifically for the World Cup and visiting tourists, but there is valuable information for South Africans as well, according to Shabalala. She adds that because of this, it will become a permanent feature on the site instead of being removed when the World Cup is over.
The NICD says there are a number of opportunities to reduce the risk of acquiring communicable diseases during a mass gathering such as the World Cup. These include “pre-travel consultation, enhanced epidemic intelligence to timeously detect incidents, the provision of standard operating procedures for epidemic response, and training and pre-accreditation of food suppliers to reduce food-borne disease outbreaks”.
Shabalala adds that the guide was created because, as a public health institution, the NICD has a responsibility to make sure the visitors coming from all over the world are adequately informed about what diseases might pose a risk and engage in the necessary actions to protect themselves.
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