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Zimbabwe
cholera outbreak claims 14
ZimOnline
January
04, 2005
http://www.zimonline.co.za/headdetail.asp?ID=11366
HARARE - An
outbreak of cholera in south-eastern Zimbabwe that began just days
before Christmas has so far claimed at least 14 lives, in yet another
example of mounting humanitarian problems in the southern African
country.
Health officials,
who did not want to be named because they are not authorised to
speak to the press, told ZimOnline that a further 100 cases of cholera
had also been reported during the same period in Chikomba district,
which is much closer to the capital, Harare.
Chikomba is
about 150km south-east of Harare while Buhera where people died
of cholera is more than 200km further south-east of the capital.
"A combination
of shortages of drugs and the fact that some of the people in Buhera
who were infected with the disease simply chose not to go for treatment
might have contributed to the high number of deaths," said a senior
official at Mutare general hospital that services Buhera district.
Health Minister
David Parirenyatwa last night confirmed the latest outbreak of cholera
that appears more widespread than previous occurrences of the highly
contagious disease. But he said only seven people and not 14 had
been confirmed to have died specifically due to cholera.
Parirenyatwa
said: "In fact only seven people have had deaths directly caused
by cholera in that area (Buhera) . . . our ministry has since moved
in and the situation is now under control."
The Health Minister,
who also confirmed the cases of cholera in Chikomba, blamed dirty
floodwaters from the rains that have fell across much of Zimbabwe
in recent weeks for contaminating unprotected wells and other sources
of drinking water in rural areas such as the two districts of Chikomba
and Buhera.
Cholera, a gastrointestinal
disease that human beings contract mainly through drinking contaminated
water, was almost eradicated in Zimbabwe. But the disease is on
the resurgence, alongside malnutrition-related illnesses such as
kwashiorkor, as Zimbabwe's health system and social infrastructure
crumbles after six years of a severe economic recession.
Collapsing drinking
water and sewerage reticulation systems have raised the risk of
outbreaks of cholera and typhoid in Harare and other urban centres,
while long-running food shortages have seen a rise in malnutrition
in Zimbabwe.
Critics blame
Zimbabwe's humanitarian and economic crisis on repression and wrong
economic polices by President Robert Mugabe, particularly his controversial
seizure of productive farms from white farmers that destabilised
the mainstay agricultural sector and slashed food production by
about 60 percent.
The veteran
President denies ruining Zimbabwe and instead claims the country's
economic problems are because of sabotage by Western governments
opposed to his seizure of land from whites for redistribution to
blacks. - ZimOnline
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