Chisango’s mandate: Get rid of cholera
NEWLY-APPOINTED town clerk Engineer Hosiah Chisango has a mammoth task ahead of him to bring back sanity in Harare to end recurrent diarrhoeal outbreaks such as cholera.
Speaking from Glen View cholera treatment camp, where he was receiving a donation of two boreholes with a 5 000-litre water tank each, bottled water, bleach, cholera awareness brochures, oral rehydration salts and cholera antibiotics by the Chinese business community towards containing the outbreak, Health and Child Care Minister Dr Obadiah Moyo said the long-term solution to cholera, typhoid and other diarrhoeal diseases was provision of clean tap water and improved sanitation facilities.
“We have requested as Ministry of Health and Child Care that we have to find the absolute solution, identify the absolute cause of the problem and fix it, otherwise we will continue having so many cases of cholera arising.
“Boreholes are a stop-gap measure, availability of containers of water is also a stop-gap measure.
“What we need is absolute solutions, long-term solutions, availability of clean water on a daily basis is one of the longterm solutions to ending cholera,” said Dr Moyo.
He said illegal food vending should also be eradicated as it contributed to the spread of diseases.
“If you eat food that is contaminated you get sick. We actually have a typical example here at Tichagarika, where three people died of cholera after buying food from a food vendor.
“So we also have to control food vending. It is painful, but necessary in order for our population to continue living,” said Dr Moyo.
Dr Moyo also implored Engineer Chisango to ensure that all public toilets are functional and clean all the time to curb spreading of diseases.
He said most public toilets in town and around shopping complexes either ceased to operate a long time ago or were rarely cleaned, a situation he described as a threat to public health interventions.
“These are the challenges that are on your table as you assume your new post, just like I entered mine during the cholera outbreak. You have got to make sure that Harare is clean,” said Dr Moyo.
Dr Moyo, however, said cases continue to go down.
As of yesterday, 33 deaths and a total of 7 919 cases had been recorded. On Thursday alone, a total of 475 cases were reported against over 1 000 cases that were being reported in previous days.
Turning to the donation, Dr Moyo
applauded the Chinese for their continued partnership with the people of Zimbabwe even in difficult times.
He said Harare Municipality had assured him that the boreholes would be drilled at appropriate sites to avoid contamination from sewage pipe bursts.
Officially handing over the donation, president of the Chamber of the Chinese Enterprises in Zimbabwe Mr Ye Hai said the Chinese community hoped that their assistance would help Government in mitigating some of its challenges in the provision of clean water and sanitation facilities.
He said the water tanks were to ensure that the borehole water is treated before use.
“We have also encouraged our mem- bers to ensure that they disseminate cholera and related information to their employees as part of Government’s efforts to improve health education,” he said.
Economic and commercial counsellor with the Chinese Embassy Mr Chen Ning said the Chinese people remained committed to assisting the people of Zimbabwe, especially during difficult times.
He said while the two boreholes will be drilled immediately to improve access to clean water in the cholera hotspots, a bigger contribution of 500 boreholes for the whole country was in the pipeline.
“I will do my best to quickly push for the start of this project,” said Mr Ning.