AURRA KAWANZARUWA
Government has increased its efforts to contain the Cholera outbreak which has now spread outside Harare.
A report compiled yesterday shows that cases have now been reported in Chitungwiza, Mashonaland Central (Shamva and Mazowe), Mashonaland East (Seke, Marondera, Murehwa, Mutoko, Wedza and Chikomba), Manicaland (Buhera, Makoni and Mutare City), Midlands (Gokwe North) and Masvingo.
Buhera has been earmarked as a high-risk area with 12 cumulative suspected cases reported, 4 of those being confirmed to be Cholera.
Cumulative deaths have risen to 49 while total suspected cases are now 6 645.
“As of September 26, 2018, more than 10 000 persons have been presented to the screening and treatment centres, and 6 645 suspected cases reported of which 98 tested positive for Vibrio cholera and 49 have died.
I must also make special mention of the fact that 21 percent of the cases and a similar proportion of deaths recorded to date are children below 5 years of age, the youngest patient being 8 months old,” shared the Director of Epidemiology and Disease Control at the Ministry of Health and Child Care (MOHCC), Dr Portia Manangazira from an official report from the ministry.
“The root cause of the outbreak in Glen View was traced back to a burst sewer pipe that had not been attended to. The sewage then seeped into the community water sources, boreholes included. In a situation like that, even personal hygiene can only be effective to a point. How do you practice good hygiene when you can’t even trust the water source?” said Manangazira.
The responsibility to fix burst pipes falls under local municipalities.
In Harare this is overseen by mayor Herbert Gomba, who ultimately reports to the Ministry of Local Government, Public Works and National Housing led by July Moyo.
Harare City Council has been battling with burst water pipes for years now. Just 5 months ago the council had announced that it had secured 4 million Euro from its German partners to construct water pipes to improve distribution systems from
pump stations.
In an interview with a local radio station, Herbert Gomba, who was at the time the environmental management committee chairperson, said “besides efforts being done at Morton Jeffrey waterworks to increase water distribution, the Ministry of
Water and Climate should expedite the construction of Kunzvi and Musami dams.”
In a recent visit to Glen View, the epicentre of the cholera outbreak in Harare, President Emmerson Mnangagwa vowed to help the Harare City Council with financial assistance.
“We are raising money, which has been coming in daily, so that we fix the burst pipes at Morton Jeffery Waterworks and the Central Business District, as well as the suburbs… we have been told that most of these pipes are old and are bursting at any given time, so we have found some well-wishers who are helping us. We will continue to support the Harare City Council in its programmes meant to sanitise Harare, because the council does not have enough powers to be doing all the work alone,” he said.
Manangazire echoed similar sentiments acknowledging that the problem is not a small one.
“To fix a situation like that will take time, but there are measures we can put in place to make sure we manage the situation,” she said.
“The Ministry of Health is undergoing training with health workers from all over the country on how to identify and respond to suspected Cholera cases. We are doing everything we can to manage the crisis.”
Although Harare has seen a gradual slow down in the number of cases reported on a daily basis, Dr Manangazira expressed concern about the fact that the disease is now being reported in different parts of the country. She was positive, how
ever, that the country is better prepared to deal with the outbreak.
“We had actually requested vaccine support earlier this year when Cholera first broke out in Chegutu in February. However, at the time our numbers were too small and so our request was denied.
“When the disease returned in September on a larger scale, we sent another request and this time we were able to swiftly get support.
“Today we have received 500 000 vaccine doses, although we are expecting a total of 2,8 million vaccine doses. The second tranche should come soon,” she said.
The vaccines have been facilitated by the World Health Organisation (WHO).
WHO Country Team Advisor, Dr Anderson Chimusoro, said that although the disease came as a surprise, of equal surprise was the overwhelming support from the private sector.
“This outbreak certainly caught us by surprise, but we were quick to respond.
“In addition to the half a million vaccine doses we are expecting to arrive in Zimbabwe any time now, we have also just received fresh supplies like sachets of Oral Rehydration Solution (ORS) and other support materials.
“Most surprising has been the overwhelming support coming from the private sector in the way of monetary and non-monetary donations. We have never seen support like this before in Zimbabwe.
“Organisations like Higher Life Foundation, Delta, the Red Cross Society and of course our bilateral and multilateral partners like UNICEF and Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) to name a few, are making significant contributions to the fight against Cholera,” he said.
Chimusoro said that Zimbabwe is well supported in the fight against the disease and the leadership of the Ministry of Health has proved itself more than capable of responding and managing the outbreak.
“Although cholera cases are cropping up from around the country, albeit in small numbers, we are confident that the country will contain the outbreak soon. Zimbabwe is on top of the situation and has it under control,” Chimusoro said.
