A cholera outbreak that has bridged Zimbabwe’s dry season is proving difficult to contain and has spread from the cities to rural areas.
There are fears that the onset of the rainy season could make the waterborne disease endemic if the authorities fail to address the water and sanitation crisis plaguing the county.
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The UN noted that “a cholera outbreak has been a cause of concern in Zimbabwe since February 2008 … so far 120 deaths have been recorded cumulatively, with the highest percentage found in Mashonaland Central” Province in the country’s north.
The collapse of health and municipal services is seen as the cause for the spread of the disease, with local authorities failing to provide potable water, rubbish collection and adequate sanitation, forcing people to dig shallow wells to obtain household and drinking water in areas where sewerage spills into streets because of poor, or non-existent, maintenance regimes.
The state-owned Zimbabwe National Water Authority (ZINWA) has pumped raw sewerage into Lake Chivero, one of the reservoirs providing Harare with water; residents with access to piped water often have to contend with a smelly greenish discharge from their taps.
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The Combined Harare Residents Association (CHRA) said in a statement that Zimbabwe’s political deadlock between President Robert Mugabe’s ZANU-PF and Morgan Tsvangirai’s Movement for Democratic Change was having a direct impact on the provision of services.
“The water woes that have seen many Harare residents losing their lives to cholera outbreaks are a result of the ruthless decision to hand over the administration of water and sewer services to ZINWA,” the statement said.
Source: IRIN, 20 Oct 2008
Sanitation Updates 