Zimbabwe's capital records close to 2,000 typhoid cases
February 1, 2012 11:02 am
HARARE, Feb. 1 — Zimbabwe's capital has recorded close to 2,000 suspected cases of typhoid since the outbreak was first reported in October last year, health authorities said on Tuesday.
Health and Child Welfare Minister Henry Madzorera told a press conference that more than 1,500 suspected cases were recorded by end of December 2011 while 350 suspected and 16 confirmed cases were recorded in the first three weeks of this month.
He said no deaths have been reported from the outbreak which has been blamed on poor water and sanitation conditions in the city of 2.5 million people.
The minister said authorities have been holding meetings since December 2011 to discuss immediate, medium and long term measures to prevent outbreaks of the disease and other diarrheal diseases.
"Critical among these is the restoration of water supplies to all currently under-served areas in the City of Harare, with a view to eventually solving the problem of water inadequacy that is causing diarrheal diseases and typhoid to persist in the capital city," he said.
The minister said health authorities had since scaled up public awareness campaigns focusing on improvements in individual, family and community hygiene to combat the spread of the disease which has so far been confined to the western high density suburbs of Kuwadzana, Warren Park and Dzivarasekwa.
While acknowledging the challenges the city faces in providing clean water to residents, Madzorera said it was critical for government to address the underlying causes of the recurrent outbreaks of water borne diseases in Harare.
"We urge government to ensure that resources to refurbish the water, sanitation and sewerage infrastructure are made available as a matter of urgency. This is the cost effective way of dealing with the menace of cholera, typhoid and other diseases spread by the oral faecal route," he said.
Zimbabwe witnessed a deadly cholera outbreak in 2008 which killed more than 4,000 people.
Harare town clerk Tendai Mahachi told the same press conference that the city was still far from being able to meet the demand for clean water.
The city has also mooted plans to construct two more dams at a combined cost of 1.4 billion U.S. dollars to supply water to the city, which is currently producing 630 mega liters of water against total demand of 1,200 mega liters a day.
Harare City provides water to four satellite towns with an estimated combined population of 2 million people. (PNA/Xinhua)
FPV/ebp
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