GOVERNMENT has declared the cholera outbreak reported in Chiredzi a national priority. This comes amid growing fears of a repeat of the 2008 epidemic, which killed over 4 000 people countrywide. The

Director of Epidemiology and Disease Control in the Ministry of Health and Child Welfare, Dr Portia Manangazira, said a national response team was currently on the ground in Chiredzi.

“The permanent secretary urgently sent the national rapid response team and the provincial health executive of Masvingo to support the district health team on the ground since the outbreak has been declared a national priority.
“The outbreak has gone beyond the World Health Organisation benchmark of control due to the quality of water available to households, few functional toilets, and limited numbers of health workers to do both outbreak response and community health education,” she said.

Government had not identified the source of the outbreak but attributed the spread to poor hygienic standards.
“Sanitation coverage is at 24,5 percent, leaving the community with very poor hygiene practices that render them at risk of cholera and other diarrhoeal diseases,” she said.