Zimbabwe : UN health agency visits Zim to help contain cholera

Harare - A delegation from the United Nations World Health Organisation (WHO) is currently visiting Zimbabwe, to help the Southern African nation respond to its worst cholera outbreak in over a decade.

A high-level WHO delegation, headed by Eric Laroche, Assistant Director General for the agency's Health Action in Crises cluster, arrived in the capital Harare at the weekend.

WHO hosted a meeting on Monday, drawing 50 representatives of non-governmental organisations (NGOs), as well as UN and health ministry partners.

At the gathering, Mr Laroche called for the creation of a strong control and command structure to lead the containment and response to the outbreak, as well as to coordinate the efforts of health providers in Zimbabwe.

On Sunday he met with Zimbabwe's Health Minister, David Parirenyatwa, offering WHO's support in coordinating the response to the cholera outbreak.

The agency said that the number of suspected cases has risen to over 15 000, with nearly 800 deaths having been reported, since August in two-thirds of the country's 62 districts.

But it cautioned that these numbers may not reflect the true extent of the outbreak, with reporting from more areas being incomplete, and as a result is working on a scenario dealing with 60 000 cholera cases to ensure an adequate response.

The epidemic has hit Harare and two other towns the hardest, and WHO noted that this outbreak exacerbates the already dire humanitarian situation in Zimbabwe.

Meanwhile South African Health Minister Barbara Hogan has led a high-level team of senior officials to assess the cholera outbreak in the Limpopo province.

The visit, which includes non-government organisations and experts from the National Institute of Communicable Diseases, was aimed at finding ways to contain the spread of cholera in Limpopo
Last week the provincial Department of Health revealed that the Limpopo River, which borders South Africa and Zimbabwe, had been contaminated with cholera.

The National Outbreak Response Team had earlier been established to advise and guide the country's response to the outbreak.

A temporary healthcare centre has since been established at Mussina showgrounds as part of alleviating pressure on the town's only public health facility. The centre also provides re-hydration services to patients and only those who fail to respond to such treatment care are referred to hospitals.

The UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) has noted that 80 percent of people in Zimbabwe lack access to safe and clean water, with the potential for the cholera outbreak to get even worse due to a deteriorating sanitation system. - BuaNews-Xinhua