ZIMBABWE: Another round of cholera expected

Photo: WHO/Paul Garwood

Zimbabwe registered close to 100,000 cholera cases during the last outbreak

HARARE, 8 July 2009 (IRIN) - Despite a steady drop in newly registered cases and cholera-related deaths in Zimbabwe, the onset of the summer rainy season in September has aid agencies worried that the disease could spike again, and relief from Africa's worst cholera outbreak in 15 years may be short-lived.

"There are fears of yet another outbreak," Tsitsi Singizi, information Officer of the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF), told IRIN. Since cholera was first reported in August 2008, close to 100,000 people have been infected and over 4,000 have died.

Aid agencies have been gearing up for the eventuality of a serious comeback by drilling 200 new boreholes in cholera hotspots, distributing hygiene kits, and sensitization and education efforts to better equip Zimbabweans to cope.

"The water problems which spurred on the outbreak last year [2008] still persist, so as we draw towards the wet season, we are bracing ourselves for another outbreak," Singizi said.

Zimbabwe often records cholera cases during the rainy season, but the economic implosion has meant that the underlying issues responsible for the epidemic - collapsed sewerage systems, poor access to adequate drinking water and continued failure to collect refuse - have yet to be addressed.

"We have started procuring oral rehydration and IV [intravenous] fluids, which are the first line in the defence for someone affected by cholera," Singizi noted.

The water problems which spurred on the outbreak last year still persist, so as we draw towards the wet season, we are bracing ourselves for another outbreak

Too late and too little

"The government has had to scrounge around in order to give the city of Harare [the capital] the money in order to deal with problems associated with water and sanitation. Harare was the epicentre of the cholera outbreak," Finance minister Tendai Biti told IRIN.

"We want to ensure that does not happen [again] as we approach the rain season, so it is a race against time." Biti said he had allotted some US$17 million to the Harare municipality to address the water reticulation and sewerage system issues.

The money will be spent on rehabilitating the capital's water treatment and distribution network and sewerage system. "We hope the city of Harare will be able once again to provide clean water to all its residents, and that cholera will be a thing of the past," he commented.

Water development minister Sam Sipepa Nkomo said it would take at least US$21 million. "That is the correct amount needed to completely overhaul the Harare water and sewerage network. However, this financial injection is a positive development and a step in the right direction."

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