daniel chigunwe
Samuel Kadungure Senior Reporter
COMPREHENSIVE and strategic interventions deployed by Government in partnership with development partners to tackle the cholera outbreak in Manicaland are beginning to bear fruit as the cases are now declining.
As a result, no deaths have been recorded recently.
Manicaland had been severely impacted by the cholera scourge, with outbreaks in Buhera, Mutare and Chipinge districts following a somewhat cyclical pattern coinciding with the onset of the rainy season.
The interventions saw the provision of lifesaving supplies, services and technical support in water, sanitation, and hygiene, social protection with social behaviour change interventions integrated across all sectors.
The latest approach brought together necessary players and actors across five pillars critical to the elimination of cholera — public health emergency preparedness and response; water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH); infrastructure rehabilitation; community empowerment and innovative financing and resource mobilisation.
Government working with its partners —World Health Organisation (WHO), Unicef, Mercy Corps, Red Cross, Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), Higher Life, World Vision and Care, among others, sunk boreholes and provided an assortment of items like drugs, intravenous rehydration fluids, water chlorinating tablets, cholera beds, soaps, buckets.
They also rehabilitated boreholes and refurbished motorbikes to enhance mobility of infection prevention and control specialists.
On Wednesday, Acting Manicaland Provincial Medical Director (PMD), Dr Cephas Fonte said a cumulative 3 234 cases have been recorded in Manicaland, of which 2 587 are suspected cases while 647 were confirmed since February.
Eighty-seven deaths were recorded.
Dr Fonte said WASH interventions saw 15 of the targeted 30 solarised boreholes being drilled to ensure the provision of clean and safe water in Buhera.
He said all gatherings and funerals in cholera-affected areas will continue to be supervised in order to ensure adequate clean water, sanitation provision and other hygienic practices to reduce transmission.
“In September, we recorded 400 cases and 19 deaths, while in October we have so far recorded 613 cases and nine deaths. The cases are going up because people now have information about the disease and are reporting for treatment.
“Some of our friends shun health facilities, but we are saying we are not giving them medicines, but administering water. This has come out as a game changer in that even the so-called religious objectors are now coming forward to get that lifesaving water,” he said.
“Deaths are declining because people are now reporting early for effective treatment, which is evidence of the effectiveness of the community-based interventions put in place. We are reaching out to the community through risk communication and community engagement.
“Door-to-door cholera campaigns are being done in the affected areas with the help of community leaders like pastors and traditional leaders.
“We have also managed to capacitate our point of care in the communities — the village health workers — to do surveillance. Health workers are key because they are the cadres on the ground, they know the villages and move door-to-door identifying the sick and raising alarm to health authorities for swift interventions,” he said.
Dr Fonte said health workers also collect data and relay it to health authorities to inform programmes and interventions.
They also provide counselling, conduct health screening and build community capacity to address health issues.
“Strong public health systems and dynamic advocacy and community participation is making the interventions effective.
So far, 15 boreholes have been drilled in Buhera under the Government-UNDP boreholes for health programme, while health education on cholera prevention and control measures, including hygiene promotion, is ongoing,” he said.
Dr Fonte said all the district and mission hospitals in the province have been capacitated to conduct cholera culture and diagnosis, adding that treatment with oral rehydration solution (ORS) to help replenish water and electrolyte loss should be prompt to prevent dehydration and shock.
The culture method is the most recommended test for diagnosis of cholera.
“The mainstay of cholera management is fluid replacement, and you can use the traditional salt-and-sugar solution.
“We have seen that the main drivers of the disease include gatherings, and the community’s low risk perception, which is now changing,” said Dr Fonte.
UNICEF representative in Zimbabwe, Dr Tajudeen Oyewale, said the health system should be adequately prepared ahead of the rainy season.
“We are doing a lot to make sure we overcome the scourge. I want to highlight the issue of prevention because the more people are referred to hospitals, the more it shows that we are not doing enough at household level, where issues of access to clean water, sanitation practices and household water management take place. We need to continue to educate communities on keeping water safe so that we do not have infection and re-infection.
“I also want to highlight the importance of early detection of cases and engaging the rapid response team. From our part, we will continue to deploy our resources and key supplies to manage the situation on the ground. We are committed to work with Government to put cholera under control,” he said.
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