Chronicle Editor
Sukulwenkosi Dube-Matutu, [email protected]
GWANDA Municipality has engaged police to remove illegal vendors from the streets as the local authority steps up efforts to curb the spread of cholera in the gold mining town.
The council has also suspended water rationing to improve supply. Gwanda is the third district in Matabeleland South to record cholera cases. The province recorded its first case in March last year in Beitbridge.
On December 15 last year two cholera-related deaths were recorded in Mazunga in Beitbridge district.
In an interview, Gwanda District Development Co-ordinator, Ms Nomathemba Ndlovu said plans are underway to expedite the construction of public toilets and drilling of boreholes in both urban and rural areas.
“The cases that we have recorded for now are mostly in the urban areas, but we are on alert so that we contain the spread of the disease. There are several measures that we have put in place as a taskforce comprising several stakeholders,” she said.
“One of the problematic areas is illegal vending and the municipality working with the police is working on moving vendors to proper operating points. The challenge is that some vendors operate at night to evade police, which is a great risk given they operate in points that don’t have water or ablution facilities.”
Ms Ndlovu said the taskforce has also engaged partners to assist in constructing public toilets in the central business district including in residential areas which do not have ablution facilities.
She said the local authority has also been engaged by stakeholders to reduce charges for pay toilets. Ms Ndlovu said since most cholera cases were being recorded in urban areas, there is a compelling need to drill more boreholes in hotspots.
“We have activated sub-committees and the sensitisation of community members is underway so that the situation doesn’t get out of hand. Community leaders such as councillors are playing a huge role in sensitising communities,” she said.
“We have engaged our partners to help us set up a cholera centre in Gwanda town. We have also identified our clinics across the district as cholera centres in case of outbreaks. We are now working on resource mobilisation so that these centres can be equipped.”
Government has launched a vaccination campaign against cholera, in collaboration with Unicef and the World Health Organisation (WHO). The campaign is targeting 2,3 million Zimbabweans amid reports that another batch of doses is expected to reach the country by February 5.
The country has received over two million doses of the cholera vaccine as the country continues measures to curb the spread of the disease. The vaccination drive will be implemented in a cluster to cluster and door-to-door manner, adapting to the phased arrival of vaccine doses.
Initially, 26 high burden districts will be prioritised based on the severity of the outbreak in those areas. In the week ending January 28, 2024, a total of 1 583 new suspected cases were reported from all 10 provinces. This is a 7,5 percent increase from 1 499 cases reported during week three.
Although all 10 provinces have reported cholera cases, Harare, Manicaland and Masvingo account for approximately 80,9 percent of all reported cases. The cholera vaccine used in Zimbabwe is the Euvichol-Plus vaccine produced by EuBiologics.
It is an oral vaccine administered by mouth. One dose of vaccine protects against cholera infections for a period of at least six months. —@DubeMatutu
Online Reporter