By Kudakwashe Pembere
Insofar as Zimbabwe has declared itself cholera free after 30 days without recording a case, the Russian Federation handed over to the Health and Child Care Ministry cholera medication and equipment worth over US$43 000 to enhance the country’s preparedness should another cholera outbreak emerge.
Speaking at a handover ceremony at the National Pharmaceutical Company warehouse in Harare on Thursday, the Health Minister Dr Douglas Mombeshora said the commodities to fight cholera remain critical.
“The donation with a value of $43 853,40 consisting of consisting of intravenous fluids, antibiotics, and other cholera-related supplies,” the Health Minister said. “These commodities are critical for the effective management and treatment of cholera cases. These commodities will be distributed in need districts where they will be used to avert deaths due to cholera and other diarhoreal diseases.”
Minister Mombeshora said while cholera is a disease of inequity, they are working in improving the water, sanitation and hygiene situation in the country.
“Provision of safe water in the affected cholera hot spots or areas was prioritized, where boreholes were drilled using the Presidential Borehole Drilling project. In urban areas provision of portable safe water at household level was increased to enable the affected areas to have uninterrupted supply of safe water,” he said.
He said the donation will help control the diarrhoeal disease swiftly.
“Almost exclusively, it affects people in communities without adequate water, sanitation and hygiene. The disease remains a significant public health concern in Zimbabwe. Even though we have just declared the outbreak over, this donation will enhance our recovery efforts and ensure we respond swiftly and effectively should we experience any case, improving our capacity to save lives.
“The Government of Zimbabwe is committed to improving health infrastructure and ensuring prompt and effective responses to cholera outbreaks. This donation reinforces the Government efforts in managing and controlling cholera more effectively.
“The Ministry used the Incident Management System (IMS) where a dedicated Cholera Incident Manager (I”M) was appointed to work on cholera response, leading several pillars which looked at Water Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH), Risk communication and Community engagement, Infection Prevention and Control (IPC), Case Management, Enhanced Surveillance, Supply Chain Management and Logistics as well as Vaccination,” he said.
Treasury disbursed an equivalent of USD 12 million towards cholera response. This, Health Minister Mombeshora said was to cater for medical and laboratory supplies, food provision for patients, training of health workers and allowances for rapid response teams.
“Cholera treatment camps and oral rehydration points were put up in the affected areas so that patients can get treatment at source,” he said.
Russian Federation Ambassador to Zimbabwe, H.E. Mr. Nikolai Krasilnikov said the donation comes as testament to the cordial shared relations between his country and Zimbabwe.
“Today we hold a ceremony of handing over cholera treatment kits produced in Russia and due to the decision by the Government of my country donated to the Government of the brotherly Zimbabwe and delivered to Harare with great assistance provided by the World Health Organization. These kits consist of equipment, drugs and renewable supplies for field hospitals and local medical centers to be deployed to fight cholera outbreaks,” he said. “We are well aware of the successful efforts taken by the Government of Zimbabwe in this regard, especially during the recent emergency situation. We believe that treatment kits from Russia will contribute to making such efforts even more efficient when cholera strikes again.”
He added, “And we are confident in WHO in this regard, because this Organization is in the forefront of the international cooperation aimed at improving healthcare around the globe and providing significant support to the sustainable socio-economic development all over the world. That is why over 12 years Russia has been implementing the project designed to strengthen the WHO capacity in emergency medical preparedness and response to infection diseases.”
Dr. Desta Tiruneh, WHO Representative to Zimbabwe said they had to pay US$21 000 to facilitate the arrival of the cholera commodities.
“The supplies received from Russian Federation include various equipment and medical supplies that are essential for the treatment of cholera cases. The value of these supplies is about USD 44,000. In addition, the World Health Organization incurred over USD 21,000 for to facilitate the procurement and fright that ensured the safe and prompt arrival of supplies in Zimbabwe.
“I am also delighted to know the recent vaccination campaign using the oral cholera vaccines was successfully implemented, with all districts targeted recording over 94% coverage,” he said.
He also called for Government to address WASH issues.
“Finally, I would like to bring to our attention that although the outbreak is over we are still vulnerable to cholera transmission. Because we still need to address the underlying factors such as access to safe water supply, sanitation facilities and improved hygiene.
“These require deliberate and targeted investment by prioritizing the high-risk communities. We must also address socio economic factors that contribute significantly to the spread of cholera such as artisanal mining and misconception that facilitate the spread of the disease,” the WR to Zimbabwe said.
