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Article added on 21 April 2009
Zimbabwe Cholera - Epidemic or Endemic?
The World Health Organisation reported at the end of March that the number of reported cases of cholera in and around the capital Harare was on the rise. This is despite a decline in new cases in most of the provinces in Zimbabwe.
The WHO warned that, "The risk of the outbreak restarting in those areas of the country is real."
There have been more than 90,000 cholera cases in Zimbabwe since the start of the epidemic last August, about 4,000 of them fatal.
ZANE medical staff are involved in the battle against cholera in Zimbabwe. A ZANE doctor writes:
"The war against cholera in Zimbabwe is not yet over. The question that is being asked now is, is this no longer an epidemic, but rather an endemic situation? Until there is provision for safe drinking water in the overcrowded, marginalised communities in Harare the fight against cholera will not be won, and people will continue to suffer and die of an essentially preventable disease.
The ZANE team continues to teach the communities in which we work about basic hygiene and sanitation. In [two] communities we were able to provide 20 litre water containers in which water can be purified by standing it in sunlight for at least 6 hours. The ultraviolet rays from the sun will destroy the majority of harmful bacteria in the water."
Emergency cholera treatment centres are now well established in Zimbabwe. ZANE is now focussing on cholera prevention projects utlising water purification schemes and education programmes.
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