Water and sanitation services have to be improved following reports of fresh cholera outbreaks in parts of the country, including Harare.
On Tuesday, Zimbabwe reported 61 suspected cases, four confirmed cases of cholera and one suspected death.
The majority of the cholera cases reported on Tuesday were in Buhera district, the epicentre of the present outbreak, which had 47 cases. The other cases were reported in Chipinge which had six, Bikita three, Mutare City two, Zaka two and now Harare with one.
Yesterday, 40 new suspected cholera cases, one laboratory confirmed infection and one suspected death were reported. Buhera had 33, Chipinge three, Zaka three, and Mutare one.
As of yesterday, 78 cases are hospitalised at Bikita CTC 10, Chiredzi two, Zaka four, Buhera 45, Chipinge nine, Makoni one, Mutare one, Zvimba one, Mhondoro-Ngezi one, and Harare's Beatrice Road Infectious Diseases Hospital four.
In a notice sent earlier this week, Harare City Council said five cholera cases had been confirmed in Hopely Zone 5, Stoneridge, Southlands, Granary, and Ardbennie, Mbare.
Harare City said three of the ill people had visited Buhera, but there could be infections contracted from local sources.
Harare residents yesterday said more could have been done by council to offer basic services like garbage collection and clean water provision to prevent the resurgence of the outbreak.
Mrs Shupikai Thompson from Mbare said the cholera outbreak in the city was a symptom of a collapsing service delivery system.
"The policy making structures and implementation structures of the City of Harare have become totally disconnected from the ratepayers and from each other that no oversight is available to exert pressure on the other," she said.
Another resident, Ms Prudence Rukondo, accused the City Council of failing to provide clean potable water.
"On one hand, the City Health Department is fighting disease outbreaks, yet at the same time the Harare water department is out in the communities disconnecting water to impoverished residents," she said.
"Most councillors are figureheads, who are only serving the interests of the senior management in return for other monetary favours which accrue to them for overlooking management shortcomings."
Another resident, who preferred anonymity, said refuse collection was erratic across Harare and sewerage blockages were the order of the day in high density areas, causing disease outbreaks.
"The reality of the situation is that the council lacks the seriousness expected of a city striving for a world-class city status by 2025 and there is poor resources allocation to prioritise health delivery and environmental conservation," she said.
Cholera is a waterborne disease that spreads through drinking water or eating food contaminated with the cholera bacterium, which causes severe diarrhoea and vomiting.
Zimbabwe recorded the worst cholera outbreak in 2008 and the last major one in 2018.
The current outbreak began in February this year and since then, Government has been implementing multi-sectoral interventions to curb the spread of the disease.
So far, 4 609 suspected cases have been recorded with 935 as confirmed cases.
However, the recovery rate has been impressive, with 4 401 recorded as of yesterday while 30 confirmed deaths and 100 suspected deaths have been recorded.
A policy research working paper commissioned by the World Bank, says sanitation risk, poverty, sewer burst density and incidence of imported cases are all risk factors for cholera.
Most suburbs in Harare have been affected by burst sewer systems and non-availability of water for years due to the incompetence of opposition councils, exposing people to the preventable disease.
Mr Tendai Moyo said council should deal with raw sewage that continuously flows in many suburbs.
"Local authorities have a legislative and constitutional duty to provide potable water to residents," he added.
Harare City deputy mayor Clr Kudzai Kadzombe said council had put in place measures to curb the spread of cholera.
"Council is working on increasing water production to ensure all suburbs receive running water. We have ensured that our infectious disease hospital is actually ready for any case that may arise," she said.
While urban areas have been affected, there are perceptions that the new cases being reported in areas like Buhera and Zaka districts are being fuelled by lack of sanitation services and unhygienic practices.
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Zaka District has since suspended uncontrolled gatherings, church camp meetings, open markets, communal beer gatherings, while funeral gatherings of not more than 50 people will be supervised by the Ministry of Health.
Health and Child Care Minister Dr Douglas Mombeshora last week said the Government was committed to improving water and sanitation services to reduce the impact of diseases such as cholera.
"In Zimbabwe we currently have an outbreak of cholera and this has also been reported in urban areas, which should not be the case. This is because there is poor management of waste by the city fathers.
"Most boreholes in the high density suburbs have been found to be contaminated by faecal material. In the first place we should be providing safe drinking water to all our citizens in the urban areas, now we are finding the opposite.
"People in the rural areas are the ones who have safe water, not water that is contaminated by faecal material. We are looking at addressing those issues of providing safe drinking water to our population," he said.
