Cholera in Zimbabwe

Medecins sans Frontiers have warned that the situation is exceptionally
serious and on 24th November claimed that 1.4 million people are
potentially at risk.  Even the state-owned Chronicle has reported a
death toll of 44 at Beitbridge and reports have recently been received
of people dying in Bulawayo of cholera. If this is not treated as a
national disaster and if  clean drinking water, proper medication and
adequate sewerage systems are not restored throughout Zimbabwe, our
entire population is potentially at risk.

Since we are all at risk, let us all as Zimbabweans respond rapidly to this crisis.

Firstly, we need to know what cholera is:

Cholera is a highly infectious bacterial disease.  It is spread through
drinking contaminated water and touching faeces (human waste) with
hands, which is then passed to the mouth.  The symptoms for cholera are
watery diarrhoea, sometimes vomiting, muscle cramps and body weakness.

Secondly, we need to know how to prevent it:

Most importantly, we must wash our hands with hot, soapy after using
the toilet, before eating and preparing food, visiting public places,
after attending funerals and visiting sick people. 

We need to sterilize our water.  We must boil all our water for
drinking, brushing teeth and washing food for at least five minutes in
order to kill the cholera bacteria.  If it is hard to boil water
because of fuel shortages, perhaps share the task of boiling water with
neighbours.

·  Water can also be treated with household bleach eg jik.  Make up a 1
litre solution of 250ml bleach to 750ml water (this solution is NOT to
be drunk).  Add three drops of this solution to every 1 litre of water,
which can then be used for drinking

·  We need to eat food while it is hot and thoroughly cooked.  We must know that our food has been hygienically prepared.

Be aware of where children are playing, especially as there is much raw
sewerage running through our cities.  Help them to wash their hands and
keep clean.

Avoid under-cooked or raw fish.

Avoid salads, especially lettuce – they might have been washed with contaminated water.  

Simple rule: Boil it, Cook it, Peel it or Forget it! 

Third, we need to know how to treat cholera:

Cholera causes severe dehydration, so the treatment is to restore the
body's water supply by drinking water, preferably using an Oral
Rehydration Solution.  This can be made from eight teaspoons of sugar
and one teaspoon of salt to every one litre of boiled water.  The
patient must receive only sterilized water.

In severe cases, an intra-venous drip must be used.

Sometimes, antibiotics are also necessary.  

Simple rule: It is VERY IMPORTANT that if you suspect someone to be
suffering from cholera, you must take them to the nearest clinic/
hospital/ doctor/ nurse to receive treatment.  A person can die from
cholera within hours if untreated. 

PLEASE PASS THIS INFORMATION ON TO EVERYONE THAT YOU KNOW.

We are standing on the brink of an enormous catastrophe. This is the reality of the cholera outbreak in our country.   

The more terrifying reality is the vulnerability of our population to
this terrible disease.  The majority of our people are malnourished,
many are HIV positive and there are thousands of children and elderly
headed families are already struggling to survive.  Not only are these
people likely to be infected with cholera, they are very likely to die
from it. 

We note that those now in control of the Ministry of Health have called
for help from the WHO, UNICEF and the UNDP.  However, this is too
little, too late.  We place the responsibility for this crisis firmly
at the feet of the Mugabe regime.  Many deaths could have already been
prevented had the regime fulfilled its obligations and provided us with:

adequate sewerage systems

appropriate water treatment

good health facilities, a great deal of our hospitals and clinics are closed

medical professionals with the right conditions to work under.

an end to misappropriation of funds which has caused the malnourishment and the desperate poverty of our nation . 

We, as the MDC (M), are deeply concerned by this disastrous cholera
outbreak.  We are committed to doing everything within our power to
relieve the terrible suffering of our people.   

Therefore, we urgently call upon our leaders, Arthur Mutambara, Morgan
Tsvangirai and Robert Mugabe to keep their promise made on 15th
September.  We believe that the best hope for our country lies and in a
functioning government and particularly a health minister who genuinely
is concerned for the needs and well being of each and every
Zimbabwean.   We need a new Health Minister who is genuinely concerned
about the plight of suffering Zimbabweans and who will urgently
mobilise help from the international community to ensure that we have
sufficient medicines and health personnel to deal with this
catastrophe. We also need a new Minister of Local Government and
Minister of Public Works who will urgently work with MDC controlled
local councils to unblock and repair our sewers. 

All of this will only happen when everyone puts the interests of the
nation before their personal interests. We must understand that this is
a national disaster which will only be fixed when we all start pulling
together. It is shameful that our beloved nation should have been
brought down to such a perilous state and it is now time to restore the
dignity of our nation and all its people.

Stella Allberry

Secretary for Health

MDC M

Bulawayo