By Staff Reporter
In a passionate appeal to the government and public, the Community Working Group on Health (CWGH) has issued a stern reminder of the urgency to eliminate cholera as a public health problem by 2028.
The CWGH, a network of civil society and community-based organizations in Zimbabwe, urged officials to prioritize a comprehensive approach to public health that addresses the root causes of cholera outbreaks, which have plagued the nation for decades.
The CWGH applauded the government’s previous initiatives, including the 2018-2028 National Cholera Elimination Roadmap and other key frameworks under the Constitution and Public Health Act, which demonstrated a commitment to tackling cholera. However, despite these plans, CWGH officials expressed deep concern over the lack of concrete action to bring these policies to life, especially as Zimbabwe faces renewed cholera threats exacerbated by the rainy season, widespread sanitation issues, and mounting waste in urban areas.
Cholera has already claimed an innocent life in Kariba district, and we simply cannot afford a repeat of the 2008/9 cholera disaster that claimed over 4,000 lives,” warned CWGH Executive Director Mr. Itai Rusike.
He argued that the continuing health crises highlight a significant gap in the implementation of public health policy. “It’s practically illogical to treat cholera patients and return them to the same deplorable conditions that caused them to fall ill in the first place,” he added, underscoring the vicious cycle of illness that communities endure.
Rusike also stressed that cholera is not merely a disease but a marker of larger issues, including access to safe water, adequate sanitation, and hygienic living conditions. These social determinants, he noted, are essential to a healthy population and should be prioritized by the government. “We need to rekindle multi-sectoral coordination,” he said, “to increase access to clean and sustainable water supplies at the household level and provide basic sanitation facilities. Only with these efforts can we prevent future outbreaks and reduce the burden on our struggling healthcare system.”
He called on communities to actively participate in hygiene and sanitation practices, while urging the government to enforce regulations on housing and waste management standards. “It’s a crime against humanity,” Rusike said, “to continue exposing people to preventable and treatable diseases like cholera.”
As Zimbabwe faces this new cholera outbreak, the CWGH hopes that its call to action will spark immediate reforms, offering a future where citizens live in dignity, free from the threat of medieval diseases like cholera.
