In South Africa the death toll as a result of cholera has now reached
eight, as hundreds of Zimbabweans continue to stream across the border
in a desperate attempt to receive urgent medical care. In Zambia,
authorities have imposed health controls at all three of its shared
borders with Zimbabwe, and anyone entering or leaving Zambia is
screened for cholera symptoms. One Zimbabwean has died at the Chirundu
crossing and a team of health officials has left for Zimbabwe to treat
and evacuate a Zambian woman and her child who have contracted cholera.
At the same time, medical specialists have been sent to Mozambique's
border areas with Zimbabwe and local health authorities are reportedly
on maximum alert' against a possible cholera spread. In the country's
Changara district
169 cholera cases have been reported and most of the victims are said
to be Zimbabweans. Botswana too is said to be on high alert as one
Zimbabwean is being treated for the disease.
In Zimbabwe thousands of people are battling the disease that has
spread like wildfire through a country which has no sanitation or
health services to speak of. Officially, more than 500 people have died
but the number is certainly much higher, with thousands dying in their
homes. Aid organisation the International Medical Corps is now
responding to the outbreak that Oxfam has said is threatening up to 300
000 people and which the government has finally declared a national
emergency.
We are extremely concerned at how widely cholera has spread unchecked
through the population and the lack of resources that exist to battle
it,
said International Medical Corps' Patrick Mweki, who arrived in the
capital of Harare two days ago to assess the need. Nine of the
country's ten provinces have reported cases and people are in desperate
need of basic medical care and clean water, in particular.
Meanwhile South Africa will announce an aid package for Zimbabwe this
week, after a delegation jetted into the country over the weekend to
investigate the critical humanitarian crisis. The team of senior South
African officials arrived on Sunday to assess the situation and
ascertain what aid was needed, a South African Department of Foreign
Affairs spokesperson said on Monday.
SWRadio Africa
Post published in: Analysis