happiness Chikwanha
Tendai Gukutikwa
Health Reporter
THE Ministry of Health and Child Care (MOHCC) has engaged various development partners to help in the fight against cholera in Manicaland.
This comes in the wake of a sharp rise in the number of cholera cases and deaths recorded in the province during the past two weeks.
By Sunday, the province had exceeded 1 000 suspected cholera cases, with a record of 1 010 suspected cases.
By Thursday (yesterday), 60 more suspected cases had been recorded, bringing the total to 1 070.
Cumulative confirmed cases stood at 379 for the province.
Cholera deaths in the province rose to 32, with nine of them having been confirmed.
This prompted Government to engage development partners to compliment its efforts in the fight against the water-borne disease.
The statistics suggest that the hardest hit districts in the province are Mutare and Chimanimani districts.
Chimanimani District Development Coordinator, Mr Tawona Nengomasha attributed the spike of cases to traffic between the two districts.
In an interview, Mr Nengomasha said inter-district interactions between the two districts are underway to make sure that communities are sensitised on the importance of hygiene and curbing the spread of the disease.
He also said with his district being one of the worst affected, development partners have already started working tirelessly within the affected communities.
“Government has engaged development partners like Development Aid From People to People (DAPP), World Health Organisation (WHO) and Mercy Corps among others to respond to the cholera outbreak. They are making water sources safe, while also identifying unsafe water sources that might be spreading the diseases through contaminated water,” said Mr Nengomasha.
He said the development partners are going around the district treating contaminated water sources.
He also said MOHCC is also doing contact tracing and also offering rapid response programmes in the community.
On Wednesday, Cabinet assured the nation that dissemination of information is ongoing through the Provincial Risk Communication and Community Engagement Committees.
It also stated that Government continues to pursue a multi-sectoral approach to responding to the cholera outbreak.
According to the Zimbabwe Situational Report on cholera released yesterday (Thursday), seven more suspected cholera deaths and one more confirmed death had been recorded in the province since last week on Friday.
A total of 49 people are suspected to have succumbed to cholera in Zimbabwe.
The 17 cholera hotspot districts in the country remain Buhera, Chegutu, Chikomba, Chimanimani, Chipinge, Chitungwiza, Chiredzi, Harare, Gokwe North, Marondera, Mazowe, Shamva, Mutare, Murehwa, Mwenezi, Seke and Wedza.
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