Mash Central cholera cases surge

Source: The Herald – Breaking news.

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 Health and Childcare Minister Dr Douglas Mombeshora (right) is joined by Mr Mathias Dzobo (left) and Mount Darwin District Medical Officer Dr George Mapiye as they are taken on a tour of a ward of cholera patients at Matope Clinic in Mount Darwin yesterday. — Picture: Joshua Muswere

Rumbidzayi Zinyuke in Mash Central

Mashonaland Central Province continues to battle recurring cholera outbreaks, with 340 cases and eight deaths recorded in six out of eight districts.

Of these cases, 68 were culture confirmed while the rest were suspected.

Fourteen patients are presently admitted in cholera treatment centres across the province.

Speaking during a visit to various treatment centres in the province yesterday, Health and Child Care Minister Dr Douglas Mombeshora said it was important to establish the reason for the resurgence of cholera in the province despite the measures put in place to combat the outbreaks.

“We have seen increases in the number of cases on daily basis, and now we are going into two-digit figures,” he said.

“So that is what prompted us to come and see on the ground the challenges. We visited Matope Clinic in Mount Darwin district, and what we have seen is that the common denominator is artisanal mining.

“There is a lot of gold panning occurring along Mazowe River but there is poor sanitation conditions and poor water supply,” he said.

He said instituting the usual measures was difficult owing to the migratory nature of artisanal miners.

The Minister said miners would be supplied with water treatment tablets to help reduce the cases.

While artisanal mining has been blamed for fuelling cases in some districts, cases in Bindura urban, which is the major hotspot, have been attributed to the non-availability of water and sewer reticulation.

All seven patients, including three children admitted to Chiwaridzo Clinic, are from Garikai settlement, which has not received water and sewer infrastructure since its establishment 20 years ago.

This has resulted in residents digging shallow wells and Blair toilets as well as installing septic tanks within their yards, which often mix due to flooding, leading to contamination of drinking water.

“We saw children admitted and they are coming from this area because these children will be playing on the streets and going into the contaminated water. And I think this is why Bindura continues to have cases of cholera going up.

“There is an obvious absence of proper sewage reticulation, proper water reticulation, and those two are very key in terms of controlling cholera spread.

“We need to take urgent action. It won’t be business as usual. We will work together as Government to make sure that we rectify the challenges that we have seen here,” he said.

During a previous outbreak early this year, one of the most severely affected areas was Mazowe Flowers, a clustered farm compound with inadequate WASH infrastructure.

The situation also worsened in Glendale, a densely populated urban area, where community members relied on shallow wells for water.

During this period, which coincides with the rainy season, the risk of water-borne diseases like cholera is heightened.

The situation in Mashonaland Central is far from isolated as almost all provinces have recorded cholera cases in the past year, mostly owing to water and sanitation challenges.

Although efforts to curb the spread of cholera have resulted in the containment of the outbreaks, the recurrence of cholera cases in some areas, over 7 500, underscores the need for continued surveillance and improvement of the water and sanitation systems.