Government of Zimbabwe has come under fire from the Zimbabwe Association of Doctors for Human Rights (ZADHR) for failing to come up with permanent solutions to stem disease outbreaks.
Dr Rutendo Bonde ZADHR’s chairperson says the government is to blame for the disease outbreaks currently being experienced namely cholera, typhoid and dysentery.
Dr Bonde made the remarks at a Crisis in Zimbabwe Coalition (CiZC) public meeting on the current typhoid outbreak in Harare. The meeting was held in Kuwadzana, a high density suburb and current epicentre of the outbreak with a reported 1675 cases.
The meeting was conducted by CiZC in collaboration with ZADHR and the Combined Harare Residents Association (CHRA). It was held to discuss the extent of the outbreak and what can be done to stem the outbreak long term.
Between 2006 and 2009, Zimbabwe experienced a serious cholera outbreak that resulted in the death of an estimated 4 000 people. The outbreak was blamed on unsafe water supplies, broken down sewage facilities and poor sanitation.
Dr Bonde accused the government of denying citizens’ rights to safe health, adding: “Government has an obligation to provide proper infrastructure and facilities. There are serious gaps in the health delivery system.”
She said citizens have a right to have access to safe water, proper sewage facilities and sanitation and that a lack of these continues to fuel outbreaks.
She said: “The situation which we experienced during the cholera outbreak has not been improved on and we continue to have these outbreaks.”
Dr Bonde further accused the government of failing to provide primary prevention of diseases and proper case management.
Dr Samuel Tsoka of the Ministry of Health, Epidemiology and Disease Control Unit said typhoid was first detected in October last year (2011). So far 2,000 people are reported to be suffering from the disease.
