Government concludes cholera vaccination in Mberengwa District

THE Ministry of Health and Child Care has concluded the oral cholera vaccination programme in Mberengwa District where 96 percent of the targeted population was vaccinated against the deadly water-borne disease.

The Midlands is one of the provinces affected by the cholera outbreak, which has claimed 36 lives across the province since its outbreak last year.

As part of mitigation measures, the Ministry of Health and Childcare has been rolling out vaccination interventions in the cholera hotspots such as Zvishavane and Mberengwa districts respectively.

According to the ministry, the vaccination exercise has since been concluded in Mberengwa District after covering 96 percent of the population in the affected zones.

Official data shows that as of Tuesday last week, the Midlands Province had cumulative cases of 552 and of these 225 were recorded in Zvishavane.

About 170 other cases were recorded in Mberengwa hence the sustained efforts to ensure the two districts are covered under the oral vaccination.

Midlands Provincial Medical Director Dr Mary Machekeza said:

“We are very happy that in Mberengwa, which was the most hit, we targeted five wards and the team is now through,” she said.

“We managed to vaccinate 96 percent of that targeted population because the number of vaccines was not tallying with the number of people in that area and we now wait for a directive from the head office.”

Dr Muchekeza said the team later went to Zvishavane where the programme was progressing well. “The people were very responsive and right now my team is in Zvishavane where the reports also indicate that people are warming up to the vaccines. We had quite a number of mortalities especially in mining communities where people delayed to seek treatment,” she said.

In a recent interview in Gweru, Health and Child Care Minister, Dr Douglas Mombeshora said the Government was impressed by the response to the cholera vaccination programme in the province.