THERE seem to be no end in sight for the Typhoid crisis in Gweru amidst indications that more cases are being being brought in on a daily basis forcing the Ministry of Health and Child Care (MOHCC) to set up more treatment camps in the affected areas.
By Michael Gwarisa
Giving an update on the Typhoid outbreak, the ministry of health confirmed that the situation was escalating on a daily basis and there was need for more human resources deployment to attend to the crisis.
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“The Ministry has set up another treatment camp in Ascot as a means of curbing the Typhoid outbreak and more nurses from Kwekwe and Silobela hospital have been assigned to different treatment centers in Gweru as the situation in Gweru seems to be worsening,” said MOHCC.
Midlands Provincial Medical Director Dr Simon Nyadundu said: “We have set up treatment camps at Mkoba Polytechnic and Mkoba 1 clinic whilst 96 volunteer workers were trained and have since engaged in a door to door awareness and educational campaign. To date a total of 1354 households have been visited and a total of 6118 Aqua tablets have been distributed” he said.
In a recent update given by the Midlands Provincial Medical Director Dr Nyadundu, “a total of 1 313 patients have been treated to date and 7 suspected to be dead,” he said. The Honorable Minister of state for Midlands Province Owen Ncube has since urged the city to increase hygiene levels and has encouraged the City Council to provide more land to be used as dumping sites so as to promote a clean and healthy environment in Gweru.
Honorable Minister of Health and Child Care Dr David Parirenyatwa urged the people of Gweru to desist from self-treatment and seek treatment from the camps that the government has set aside.
“The typhoid situation in Gweru needs to be stopped now, the people are working very hard, I have a task force on the ground which is multi-sectorial and is doing its best under the guidance of the Honorable Minister of State for Midlands Province,” Dr Parirenyatwa said.
“We are trying to make sure that there is no spread outside Gweru as many people work in Gweru but reside outside Gweru so there is need to address that very vigorously,” Dr Parirenyatwa said.
Residents have also been encouraged not to indulge in self-treatment. Dr Parirenyatwa said, “in any event you have symptoms of typhoid like diarrhea, vomiting, fever or dehydration do not self-treat as in the end you will have complications like kidney diseases.”
He encouraged people to visit the treatment camps that the Ministry has set aside.
