The department visited the Dieplsoot Youth Centre, Boulders Shopping Centre and Ivory Park North community hall where the department’s health deputy director, Nelly Shongwe, addressed the community. She also introduced environmental health practitioners and municipal health services available to the community.
Sharlene Moshidi, a Region A environmental health practitioner said, “The initiative was part of also commemorating World Environmental Health Day on 26 September. Last year’s theme was air quality, [and] this [year’s theme is] ‘Children are our future let’s protect their environment and health’.”
She stated that children’s health and safety and the protection of the environment was an important topic that South Africa and the world should tackle. “Children are vulnerable and must be protected as they have less resistance to infection, [are susceptible to] poor diet and nutrition, chemical contaminants, air pollution from traffic as well as air pollution, in general, and they are at higher risk in terms of injury from accidents at home and in regard to traffic accidents.”
The nine components of municipal health services that the department informed the community about were:
- Monitoring water quality and availability
- Food control
- Waste management
- Health surveillance of premises
- Surveillance and prevention of communicable diseases
- Vector control, which is to limit or eradicate mammals, birds, insects or other arthropods which transmit disease
- Environmental pollution control
- Regulatory interventions to ensure compliance by funeral undertakers and mortuaries
- Chemical safety.
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