TWO cholera deaths were reported in the country last week. Health
and Child Care Minister Dr David Parirenyatwa has since called for the revival
of water and sanitation systems since the country is still prone to water borne
diseases.
Dr Parirenyatwa told Parliamentarians on Thursday that
cholera has been rampant for a long time and would not go away unless people
improve sanitation.
In response to a question from Chegutu West legislator Cde
Dexter Nduna, Dr Parirenyatwa said the two deaths were recorded at Stoneridge
Park, near Chitungwiza.
“As long as you have poor sanitation, no water supply, we
will have a situation like that which happened in Chegutu, Norton and
Chitungwiza again. So, although now we have no cholera cases in Zimbabwe, we
had two deaths in the past week from that Stoneridge area,” said Dr
Parirenyatwa.
He urged members of the public to ensure they practise
personal hygiene and access clean water so that diseases like cholera, typhoid
and other diarrhoeal conditions are negated.
Cde Nduna said his constituency was ravaged by cholera in
2008 when more than 400 people died and in 2018, about four people died.
He demanded to know how the health fund is being used to
fight cholera.
“What policy direction are you giving to that fund to try
and direct it to infrastructure development in particular sewer and water
reticulation in general towards the cholera epidemic, in particular again to
Chegutu West Constituency?” asked Cde Nduna.
In response Dr Parirenyatwa said, “I think these are the
issues that we need to address and we are addressing now as Government in
coordination with the Ministry of Local Government, Public Works and National
Housing to make sure that these people are moved from those areas.”
According to the World Health Organisation, cholera kills
an estimated 95 000 people and affects 2,9 million worldwide every year.
Chronicle
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