His Majesty King Mswati III has raised concern over the resurgence of foot-and-mouth disease (FMD), describing the outbreak as a significant setback to the Kingdom’s drive toward agricultural self-sufficiency in Eswatini.
In his Speech from the Throne during the opening of the Third Session of the 12th Parliament, His Majesty highlighted that FMD was not new to the country and that it had been successfully contained in the past.
He said its return meant that, as a country, lessons from previous outbreaks had not been fully applied. He stressed that this must serve as a turning point to create a lasting solution that would prevent recurrence in future.
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“While we thought we had done enough in cordoning off the affected regions, the disease eluded our measures and spilled over into other regions, clearly indicating that our precautions were not strong enough.
“We must intensify education and awareness efforts to ensure our people are well sensitised to take all necessary precautions to stop the spread of the disease,” he said.
His Majesty further assured the nation that government would do all that is necessary to eliminate the disease from the country.
“Government should also explore other sources to procure the foot-and-mouth disease vaccination to hasten the exercise,” he added.
