Harare: Zimbabwe has declared a state of emergency following a cholera outbreak that has claimed 25 lives to date, with more than 4000 people hospitalised.
Government on Thursday released a paltry $1million to fight cholera, while also launching an international appeal for funding towards the pandemic.
The UN Children’s Fund on Friday released a situation report on the cholera outbreak.
• During the period January to May 2018, Zimbabwe recorded 177 cholera cases and 7 deaths. The cases were recorded in Chegutu, Harare and Chitungwiza.
• A new outbreak of cholera was notified by the Ministry of Health and Child Care on 6 September. So far 1,901 cases (1,843 suspected and 58 confirmed cases) have been reported along with 24 deaths. An estimated 12 per cent of the suspected and confirmed cases are children under five years of age. A state of emergency in Harare was declared by the Government of Zimbabwe on 11 September.
• While Zimbabwe had reported cholera cases every year over the past three years, the scale was comparatively lower (20 cases in 2015, 2 cases in 2016, and 6 cases in 2017).
• Non-Food Items (NFIs) sufficient for over 1,000 households are being distributed in the newly affected areas.
• UNICEF is a key partner in the Inter-Agency Coordination Committee for Health (IACCH) chaired by the Ministry of Health and Child Care (MoHCC) with Secretariat support from WHO. WHO is leading the coordination of the response with technical support from the national rapid response team (NRRT) which includes UNICEF among other partners.
Situation Overview
Zimbabwe is currently experiencing a new cholera outbreak in Harare and other districts. The outbreak was notified on 6 September 2018. Todate 1,901 suspected cases, 58 confirmed cases and 24 deaths have been reported in Harare and an additional 6 districts.
An estimated 12 per cent pf the suspected and confirmed cases are children under five years of age. Most of the cases are being reported from the high density suburbs of Glen View and Budiriro in Harare.
There have been reports of additional suspected cases in Buhera, Chitungwiza, Shamva, Gokwe North, Makoni and Masvingo districts.
A total of 46 of of the confirmed cases are from Harare while theremainder (13) are from Chitungwiza (3), Masvingo (1), Buhera (2), Makoni (2) and Gokwe North (4).
SITUATION IN NUMBERS
1,901 new cholera cases have been reported during the period 5 to 12 September 2018 (1,843 suspected and 58 confirmed cases) (Source: MoHCC-September 2018)
24 Deaths have been reported during the period 5 to 12 September 2018 (Source: MoHCC-September 2018)
58 Laboratory confirmed cholera cases reported during the period 5 to 11 September 2018 (Source: MoHCC-September 2018)
Source: AllNet Africa and UNICEF
