MORE than 1 300 Bulawayo residents have been treated for diarrhoea since July this year with reports that cases are still on the rise owing to erratic water supplies.
The city recorded its first diarrhoea outbreak in July
which claimed 13 lives in Luveve suburb.
The first case in the latest outbreak was reported on
September 26 and has been linked to the prevailing water crisis.
Residents have for the past months been subjected to an
acute water shortage which has seen the Bulawayo City Council providing water
to only a few suburbs per day.
The latest diarrhoea outbreak follows Auditor-General Mrs
Mildred Chiri’s report tabled before Parliament recently that listed Bulawayo
among six local authorities at risk of outbreak of water-borne diseases that
could lead to deaths due to failure to manage sewer reticulation systems.
According to council minutes, 488 cases of diarrhoea were
recorded during the month of July. In August the cases went down to 338 and
then shot up to 472 in September.
“Diarrhoea cases were on the increase in the month of
September exceeding the action threshold for some clinics in Emakhandeni
District. Since July about 1 300 cases have been recorded in the city and this
is a major public health concern.”
The rise in diarrhoea cases has created the urgent need for
health promotion messages, according to councillors.
“The promotion messages should emphasise the need for
improved water and sanitation activities, contact tracing, active case finding
as well as health education and intensified shop inspections,” reads the
council document.
The document also stated that Bulawayo remained on high
alert for typhoid as it was endemic in some neighbouring cities.
The Director of Health Services Dr Edwin Sibanda said the
water shortages made it difficult for the local authority to test samples and
determine the cause of diarrhoea.
“The water shortages have affected the monitoring programme
as most sampling points were dry on sampling days.
A total of 122 samples have been collected for
bacteriological analysis covering routine sampling routes, clinics and
complaints from households,” he said. Herald
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