SW Radio Africa (London)
Tichaona Sibanda
17 November 2008
The MDC MP for Glen View south Paul Madzore claimed on Monday that eleven people are dying of cholera daily in his constituency and that the deadly intestinal disease is now raging through the capital.
When the MP spoke to us on the phone he was at a funeral, of another victim of cholera. He said cholera strikes hardest in areas plagued by water shortages, a problem for most people in Zimbabwe. Wherever water systems run foul with human waste and people live without toilets or clean running water, cholera finds a perfect breeding ground.
Doctors in Harare are treating dozens of new cholera cases a day, amid reports the death toll from the disease may now be well above 500. Madzore urged the international community to step in and help fight the disease before it becomes too late.
'People are dying like flies in Glen View. At least eleven people die on a daily basis and I've spent the last weeks attending funerals on a daily basis. Children have become the most vulnerable in my constituency and if this is not a disaster in the eyes of the government, I don't know then what constitutes a major health disaster,' Madzore said.
When cholera struck Harare early last month, it quickly spread to high density suburbs of Budiriro, Glen View and Glen Norah. The epidemic has affected tens of thousands of people. Unconfirmed reports put the number of dead at over 1000 since the outbreak, mostly in shantytowns and poor communities.
Madzore blasted the government for not using the media to maximize efforts to fight the disease. Instead of running campaigns to provide information on diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of cholera, Madzore said the regime was busy still running election material, all of which has become irrelevant.
'This is the time for the government to educate the public about effective preventive measures. Instead they're busy bombarding us with ZANU PF propaganda from the March elections. If they are not careful, this city will be wiped out...I'm not being alarmist, but this is real,' Madzore said.
People in wealthier communities have remained relatively unharmed, however, since they can afford the fuel or generators, to boil their water. Public health expert Oliver Mudyarabikwa told us cholera can also be simply and successfully treated by immediate replacement of the fluid and salts lost through diarrhea. This medication is unavailable to the majority of people in Zimbabwe. The international organization, Doctors without Borders, is currently in Zimbabwe to help with the cholera crisis. But the last report we heard was that they had applied to the government agency to import the rehydration salts, but had not yet received permission to do so.
With prompt rehydration, less than one percent of cholera patients die. But in areas with poor sanitation, a cholera epidemic cannot be stopped immediately, hence the failure by authorities in Harare to eradicate the disease.
The Zimbabwe Doctors for Human Rights have released a statement signed by the health workers at Parirenyatwa and Harare Central Hospitals.
In it they say they will present a petition to the Ministry of Health and Child Welfare on Tuesday, on the crisis in the public health system in the country.
This will be preceded by a March to protest against the collapse of the health sector. The protest march will commence at 8am from the University of Zimbabwe's medical school at Parirenyatwa Hospital.
The statement said there is an absence of medical supplies, functional equipment and drugs that have rendered public hospitals and clinics virtually closed, resulting in preventable deaths.
'Since hospitals and clinics are, for all intents and purposes, currently closed, Zimbabweans that fall ill have no access to health care given the high cost of private health care. We call upon the responsible authorities to take urgent steps to remedy the situation above in consultation with the health workers concerned,' the statement added.
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