Tag: CHOLERA

Zimbabwe Marks One Year Since Recording First Cholera Case

Michael Gwarisa

By Michael Gwarisa Today, February 12, 2024, marks exactly 12 months since the first Cholera outbreak was reported in Zimbabwe in Chegutu, Mashonaland West. The Cholera anniversary comes in the wake of the outbreak having been reported in 61 districts in all the country’s 10 provinces. Deputy Cholera Incident Manager in the Ministry of Health and Child Care (MoHCC), Dr Stephen Karim said the country was beginning to witness a positive trajectory in the cholera outbreak. You might remember that we reported the first case of Cholera was on the…

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Zimbabwe: MSF teams help tackle cholera in Buhera district

Healthtimes

It’s swelteringly hot under the midday sun in Chapanduka village in Buhera, a district of Manicaland province in south-eastern Zimbabwe, where a cholera outbreak has been raging since October 2023. A vehicle belonging to Médecins Sans Frontières/Doctors Without Borders (MSF) is navigating the bumpy road, heading to a local clinic to help treat patients and support local health staff in the management of the deadly waterborne disease. Suddenly the MSF vehicle draws to a halt. A man is lying on the roadside, drawing a crowd of onlookers, many of whom…

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Providing Point of Care Response To Cholera Patients In Harare’s Biggest Informal Settlement

Michael Gwarisa

By Michael Gwarisa In Zimbabwe every year, December 22, marks Unity Day, an occasion to commemorate the signing of the Unity Accord in 1987, when Zimbabwe’s two rival political parties signed an agreement to end a protracted period of conflict. 36 years later, on December 22, 2023, everyone woke with anticipation to celebrate this important day on the national Calendar. For most Zimbabweans, it was a normal but cloudy Unity Day Holiday, with a high likelihood of precipitation later in the day. However, for Tanaka Nyamukoko (23) from Hopley, a…

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UNICEF donates cholera medicine to Zim Health Ministry

Kuda Pembere

By Kuda Pembere The Ministry of Health and Child Care has received US$265 000 worth of cholera treatment medicines and equipment from Unicef to help Zimbabwe in the containment of the outbreak. Speaking at the handover ceremony at NatPharm Warehouse in Harare on Friday, the Health and Child Care Minister Dr Douglas Mombeshora said it was disconcerting to find the case fatality rate still over 2 percent. And what you have given us today is quite substantial and will go a long way in helping us combat the cholera epidemic.…

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WHO Calls For Urgent Action As 400 Cholera Patients Are Hospitalized In Zimbabwe

Michael Gwarisa

By Michael Gwarisa World Health Organisation in Zimbabwe (WHO Zimbabwe) representative, Professor Jean-Marie Dangou has warned that a business-as-usual approach is detrimental to the prevailing Cholera situation in Zimbabwe. His call follows a recent surge in new Cholera infections and hospitalisations which could bring the healthcare sector to its knees should the situation continue for a few more weeks as 60 districts have reported cases so far in the country. Through his Micro-Blogging platform, Prof Dangou said there was need to act swiftly and address the deteriorating health situation. Indeed,…

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When Religion Meets Cholera: Information Gaps Threaten Cholera Response In Marange

Michael Gwarisa

By Michael Gwarisa recently in Marange It’s 12:00 midnight, and two men knock at Cecilia Garira’s door. Cecilia is a famous Village Health Worker from the Johane Marange sect in Marange, Mfararikwa Village, who has volunteered to assist Cholera patients from her sect. The two men bear bad tidings. One of their members is critical and in need of help as he is exhibiting severe Cholera symptoms including dehydration. Cecilia doesn’t waste time. She packs her bag and joins the two men. Earlier in the day, the man in question…

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Zambia Postpones School Opening Due to Cholera Surge

Healthtimes

Lusaka Times In response to a surge in cholera cases, the Zambian government has announced the deferment of the 2024 Term One school opening from the initially scheduled date of January 8th to January 29th. Education Minister Hon. Douglas Syakalima made the official announcement today in Lusaka, emphasizing the need to prevent and mitigate the spread of the disease. Minister Syakalima clarified that this postponement applies to all public, private, aided, and community learning institutions, including Early Childhood Education (ECE) centers, primary, and secondary schools. Learners at all levels are…

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Zimbabwe Kicks Off The New Year With Over 200 Cholera Hospitalisations

Michael Gwarisa

By Michael Gwarisa   Despite efforts by government and partners to contain the Cholera outbreak, an increased number of severe cases of the disease requiring hospital admission continue to be recorded throughout the country. Severe Cholera symptoms according to the Centre for Diseases Control (CDC) include profuse watery diarrhea, sometimes described as “rice-water stools”, vomiting, thirst, leg cramps, restlessness or irritability and these may require hospitalisation. According to the Ministry of Health and Child Care (MoHCC) Daily Cholera Situtaion Report for January 1, 2024, a total 247 cases were hospitalized…

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“Remove Street Vendors Or we Remove Them Ourselves”…Gvt Tells Harare City As Cholera Spreads

Michael Gwarisa

By Michael Gwarisa Minister of Health and Child Care (MoHCC) Dr Douglas Mombeshora has advised the City of Harare to move swiftly and ban the vending of food, fruits and vegetables on the streets and undesignated places, before the Cholera crisis gets out of hand. His call also comes amidst indications that some vegetable growers in places where burst sewer pipes discharge raw sewage, were capitalising on the burst pipes crises to water their vegetables which they later sell to vendors around the city. Speaking during a donation of Cholera…

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ZimCholera: Public gatherings banned in Mash Central

Kuda Pembere

As Zimbabwe grapples to contain the cholera outbreak, Mashonaland Central has been banned to hold public gatherings. By Kuda Pembere In a memo to all district medical officers in the province, Mash Central provincial medical director Dr Clement Chuma said the measure is meant to stop cholera from spreading to other districts having hit two namely Shamva and Centenary. “The country is currently in cholera outbreak. The outbreak started in Manicaland but it has now spread to other provinces including Mashonaland Central. In Mashonaland Central, we now have cases in…

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