Editorial Comment: CHOLERA MUST NOT BE ALLOWED TO SPREAD

According to the local authority, a 25-year-old male was admitted at Beatrice Road Infectious Diseases Hospital and his signs and symptoms included nausea, diarrhoea, vomiting general body malaise and severe dehydration.

ON Tuesday the Harare City Council advised residents of a positive cholera case in Glen View and urged residents to be extremely cautious to avert an outbreak.

Further information was that the patient is a vendor at Tichagarika Shopping Centre where he spends most of his time and it is from that spot he ate contaminated food. The water he consumed was also listed as a potential cause of the cholera.

There was an immediate response yesterday with teams from key stakeholders on the ground. Their aim is to try and deal with the situation before it gets out of hand and spread to other areas within Glen View and beyond.

The recent case of cholera in the high-density suburb is a stark reminder of the public health vulnerabilities that continue to plague our communities, particularly at the end of the rainy season.

With cases rising and lives at risk, urgent and coordinated action is needed — not just from local authorities but from residents as well.

The good thing is that cholera is both preventable and treatable provided people and authorities act swiftly and responsibly.

Glen View cannot afford to become the epicenter of yet another preventable health crisis.

The rain season is officially over for this year but the period often creates conditions that increase the risk of cholera outbreaks, especially in high-density areas like Glen View.

According to experts, during the rainy season, runoff water can mix with sewage due to poor drainage and damaged or blocked sewer systems. And when the rains slow down and eventually disappear, stagnant pools of contaminated water remain, which are ideal conditions for the cholera-causing bacteria to thrive.

The other challenge with the rain season is that heavy downpours at times damage already fragile sanitation infrastructure in high-density suburbs where it takes time for any repairs to take place.

This exposes the areas’ water sources used for drinking, cooking to contamination.

Also, when rain stops, there is a decrease in water availability and residents might then turn to unsafe sources such as streams or open, shallow wells.

Overcrowding then compounds all these problems given that many households share limited sanitation facilities, and it becomes very difficult to maintain proper hygiene and sanitation standards.

So the challenge is on Harare City Council to ensure that measures are in place to ensure provision of clean, safe, and accessible water to all residents.

On the other hand, burst sewer pipes and contaminated water sources have to be repaired and monitored without delay while waste collection must be regular and efficient, especially in densely populated areas where litter and blocked drains exacerbate the spread of cholera.