Category: WATER AND SANITATION

Central Government Briefly Takes Over Solid Waste Management In Harare As Cholera Rears Ugly Head

Michael Gwarisa

By Michael Gwarisa Riding on the existing Emergency Solid Waste Management Program, guided by Statutory Instrument 140 of 2023, following the declaration of a state of disaster in Harare Metropolitan province, the Zimbabwean government is implementing a raft of measures through Operation Chenesa Harare (Clean Harare), an ambitious waste management program targeting to clear all solid waste within a week. The collected waste will be taken to Pomona Dump Site in Harare in a move the government believes will address the drivers of Cholera and other diarrhoeal diseases in Harare.…

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Idle Buildings Converted Into Life-Saving Oral Rehydration Points For Cholera Patients In Manicaland

Michael Gwarisa

By Michael Gwarisa in Manicaland Almost 15 kilometers from Zvipiripiri Rural Clinic, Sekuru Ramson Nyatsanza* (79) from Nyangani Village Ward 16 in Mutare rural, is experiencing severe Cholera symptoms. He is vomiting profusely and the rice water-like diarrhoea is not stopping. Despite being a member of an Apostolic Sect that is known for prohibitin followers from seeking healthcare services, Sekuru Nyatsanza is determined to get help. His relatives carry him to an Oral Rehydration Point (ORP) that the Ministry of Health and Child Care (MoHCC) through technical and financial support…

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President Mnangagwa Should Declare Cholera a National Disaster

Michael Gwarisa

PUBLIC Health expert and Community Working Group on Health (CWGH) Executive Director, Mr Itai Rusike has called on President Emerson Mnganagwa to act swiftly and declare the prevailing Cholera outbreak a National Disaster before the health situation gets out of hand. By Michael Gwarisa His call comes in the midst of numerous Cholera cases that have been recorded and confirmed mostly in rural areas across the country with Buhera District in Manicaland province being the hardest hit. In an interview with HealthTimes, Mr Rusike said the situation on the ground…

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Cholera Spreads like Veld Fire in Zimbabwe’s Rural Communities

Michael Gwarisa

WHILE previous Cholera outbreaks in Zimbabwe were recorded in urban areas where there is poor water and sanitation services, the obtaining Cholera outbreak seem to be spreading fast in rural communities. By Michael Gwarisa Zimbabwe reported its first Cholera case in February this year in Chegutu before the outbreak spread to the country’s 10 provinces. The outbreak at some point subsided, only to resurface in Buhera, Manicaland province, where majority of those dying and contracting the diseases are white garment sect members according to government. As of October, 20 2023,…

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Cholera Spreads To 17 Traditional Hotspots In Zimbabwe

Healthtimes

Zimbabwe is experience another Cholera wave amidst indications of a surge in new cases in rural communities and traditional Cholera hostposts. By Staff Reporter To date, 4 730 suspected cases of Cholera have been recorded countrywide, with 944 having been confirmed. 30 Confirmed deaths and 100 suspected deaths have so far been recorded since the outbreak was reported in Chegutu early this year. According to the Ministry of Health and Child Care (MoHCC) daily Cholera Situation Report, 34 new suspected cholera cases, (0) suspected deaths and (5) laboratory confirmed results…

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Zimbabwe Government cracks head over untraceable Cholera origins

Michael Gwarisa

THE cholera outbreak in Zimbabwe has no epidemiological link to any country in the region or any place that has recorded cholera cases, meaning the local environment could be heavily contaminated and harbouring volumes of Cholera pathogens, a top health official has warned. By Michael Gwarisa This according to the Ministry of Health and Child Care (MoHCC), poses an even bigger challenge as it was now difficult to locate the actual source of Cholera and control its spread on time. The First Cholera case was reported and recorded on February…

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11 Budiriro Residents Contract Cholera after Drinking Water from Contaminated Well

Michael Gwarisa

THE Harare City Health Department has activated emergency Cholera response systems in the midst of an unfolding Cholera situation which has seen three confirmed, and 11 suspected cholera cases being recorded over the past five days in Budiriro 1. By Michael Gwarisa The 11 suspected cases and the confirmed three, all emanate from one area in Budiriro 1 where residents get water from an unprotected water source. The new development raises fears of a repeat of the 2008 and 2018 Cholera outbreak that killed and infected several thousands of people.…

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More Mozambican Nationals Troop To Zimbabwe For Cholera Treatment

Michael Gwarisa

A total 25 cases, out of 121 suspected Cholera cases that have been reported in Zimbabwe to date, are emanating from one village in Mozambique. By Michael Gwarisa The villagers from Kadunje are currently being treated for Cholera at Chiwenga Clinic, Centenary District, Mashonaland Central Province, bordering Mozambique. While the move could exert pressure on Zimbabwe’s healthcare in the face of a looming local Cholera outbreak where eight cases have already been confirmed, Zimbabwe’s Ministry of Health and Child (MoHCC) says they cannot turn away patients from seeking treatment regardless…

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#BREAKING: Zim records cholera cases

Kuda Pembere

Two cholera cases have been identified by Zimbabwe’s health authorities in Chegutu with one having been confirmed and another still under investigation. By Kuda Pembere The SADC region has been recording cholera cases with Malawi being the most affected.The cases come five years after Zimbabwe managed to control the 2018 epidemic. On the 15th of February 2023, Zimbabwe confirmed a case of cholera in Chegutu town, Mashonaland West Province, having presented with watery diarrhoea and vomiting on the 12th of February 2023. On the 17th of February 2023 a second…

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Zim on cholera high alert: Health Ministry

Kuda Pembere

With some Zimbabweans dreading a rebound of a cholera epidemic, a senior Ministry of Health and Child Care official has allayed the fears saying there are no cases in the country yet noting they are on high alert. By Kudakwashe Pembere The country was hit twice by the epidemic which was reported first in Glen View and Budiriro high density suburbs. Zimbabwe got affected by Cholera in 2008 which saw many mortalities and 2008 with low mortality rates but the disease was severe due to antimicrobial resistance. Malawi is currently…

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