Published by the government of Zimbabwe
6 October 2008
Harare — CHITUNGWIZA is slowly getting on top of the cholera outbreak in the town, with the number of reported cases going down by half and the death rate cut to zero, but wants sewers repaired to remove the threat entirely.
Aid agencies are drilling boreholes in the areas worst hit by water cuts to ensure residents have access to clean water.
Chitungwiza Municipality's director of health services, Dr Mike Simoyi, said almost 100 people were now being screened a day, down from more than 200 at the peak of the outbreak, but added that as long as the root cause was not addressed, lives would be in danger.
According to Dr Simoyi, no cholera deaths had been reported of late while the number of patients treated at Seke North Clinic was going down each day.
He said the clinic was well stocked with chemicals and drugs and discharged patients were being given aqua tablets, soap and bleach to use at home.
Dr Simoyi paid tribute to donors such as Doctors Without Borders, Unicef, Oxfam and Red Cross for helping in bringing the disease under control.
"Had it not been for the donors who are working with us, we would not have achieved so much," he said.
But Dr Simoyi expressed disappointment that the responsible authorities were not tackling the source of the threat by fixing sewers and ensuring a constant supply of clean water.
"As long as the preventive side is not dealt with, we will continue to have the cholera problems," he said.
He feared the problem could spread to areas such as Unit G, Seke and St Mary's, which suffered from perennial water and sewage problems.
Dr Simoyi called for a stop to the discharge of raw sewage into the Manyame River as Zinwa did not have enough chemicals to clean the water.
Meanwhile, a German company has donated two boreholes to Chitungwiza to ease the water shortages that contributed to the cholera outbreak in the town.
Dr Simoyi said the German Agro-Action Group provided two boreholes -- one to be drilled in Unit O, the epicentre of the cholera outbreak, and the other at Seke North Clinic.
"The company has also promised to provide us with overhead water tanks from which water will flow into pipes from which residents can collect it from various points," he said.
The municipality is also carrying out awareness campaigns although the exercise is being hampered by staff shortages.
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