The Health minister, Yolanda Awel Deng said the heatwave could last for two weeks, with temperatures ranging between 41 degrees and 45 degrees Celsius.
“The government has decided to take the following measures, one, close down all schools with effect from March 18, two, during the closure of the schools, parents are advised to stop their children from playing outdoors for prolonged periods and they should also monitor children, especially the young ones, for signs of heat exhaustion and heatstroke,” Awel told reporters in the capital, Juba.
She said heatwaves can acutely impact large populations for short periods, often trigger public health emergencies, and result in excess mortality and cascading socioeconomic impacts like loss of work capacity and labor productivity and can also cause loss of health service delivery capacity.
Awel said the disease surveillance department at the health ministry has put a system in place to detect and respond to cases, adding there are already cases of death related to excessive heat reported in South Sudan.
A recent circular from the Environment and Forestry ministry warns of likely illness and deaths among adult and children if they are exposed to high heatwaves.
The Undersecretary in the Environment ministry, Joseph Africano Bartel said climate change is becoming a global phenomenon in which South Sudan will experience a lot of temperature fluctuations.
He, however, advised the public to guard against rising heatwaves in the country.
Africano further appealed to the developed countries to cut emissions, warning that South Sudan would soon experience climate change impact in form of heavy rains, floods and droughts.
That a good decision to close down schools because allowing students to attend classes may compromise their healthy.
that’s good prevention is better
Excellent decision Dear MINISTER.