Zimbabwe: Cholera disaster looms
Posted by africanpress on October 2, 2008
Harare (Zimbabwe) – A health disaster of unimaginable proportions looms in Harare after the water situation deteriorated even further this week, sparking fresh health concerns. An outbreak of cholera in Chitungwiza claimed two more lives this week, bringing to 13 the total number of deaths so far.
The water crisis in Harare and in Chitungwiza, approximately 30 kilometres south of the capital, has reached critical levels forcing doctors and the cities’ residents associations to exert pressure on government to put its house in order and avoid continued loss of lives. Faced with severe shortages of foreign currency required to import water purification chemicals and spares to repair the ageing water infrastructure, the government has all but admitted it does not have the capacity to deal with the problem.
The confusion over Cabinet appointments has not helped the situation.
The Zimbabwe Association of Doctors for Human Rights (ZADHR) this week said a serious health crisis looms in urban areas owing to the severe shortage of running water. Failure by the state-run Zimbabwe National Water Authority (ZINWA) to treat and pump adequate supplies of water has left most urban homes dry and forced residents to rely on unsafe sources of water.
This, coupled with a breakdown in the sanitation system (burst sewage pipes and lack of refuse collection and proper disposal) is threatening the health of millions of Zimbabweans at a time when the health delivery system is least prepared to deal with any major outbreak of diseases due to the brain drain and the shortage of drugs.
ZINWA has admitted it has not been treating the more than 300 megalitres of waste produced in the capital, which is simply being discharged into Harare’s main source of raw water, Lake Chivero. The untreated waste water has contaminated more than half of Lake Chivero. As a result the water treatment bill has spiked to such levels that ZINWA is now unable to procure the enormous amount of chemicals needed to treat the murky Chivero water for safe human consumption. Water experts have also said the treatment of Harare water has become complicated because the waste water discharges were highly contaminated with industrial toxins, which need complex methods to remove, thus exposing consumers to health complications other than cholera.
“The new government must address this crisis as a matter of urgency. It is a matter, which cannot wait for resolution of differences or ’sticking points’. Public service provision has been inadequate for several years and requires urgent and comprehensive remedial action,” said ZADHR. The association told The Financial Gazette this week that access to safe drinking water and to adequate sanitation are basic human rights and not privileges.
“Lives have already been lost to cholera in Chitungwiza and health centres in Harare and Bulawayo are burdened by numerous cases of diarrhoea on a daily basis. It is highly likely that the number of deaths in Chitungwiza, currently reported at 13 individuals, is much higher, and that this is but the tip of an iceberg of much more morbidity. This has not been communicated to the public,” said the association.
Outbreaks of cholera at any time are symptomatic of serious structural problems within the system of public works. They are more common when rains have resulted in flooding or overload of drainage systems. An outbreak in the middle of the dry season is particularly disturbing.
—————-
API/Source.Financial Gazette (Zimbabwe), by Nelson Chenga & Charles Rukuni – September 29, 2008.
