GRACE ZVENYIKA
CHITUNGWIZA-A health time bomb is looming in the dormitory town of Chitungwiza as there is no testing of the deadly cholera disease on the general populace despite showing symptoms of infection.
This may mean that most people are contracting the disease and getting healed without health officials being able to trace the extend of the outbreak.
The Midweek Watch has gathered that Seke North Clinic is receiving patients who are showing the symptoms of the disease but they are not being tested.
Recently the clinic treated 5 patients with diarrhea and the clinic staff suspected that it was cholera as patients were not being tested.
“We are treating patients who come complaining of diarrhea here but we suspect cholera as we are not testing them,” said a health official at the clinic who is not authorized to speak to the Press.
“Ever since the outbreak of cholera, we did not receive anything to test the deadly infectious disease and patients with serious cases we refer them to the General hospital,” added the source.
Efforts to get a comment form the district offices were not successful as their land line phones were not being picked.
Ministry of Health and Child Care permanent secretary, Air Commodore Jasper Chimedza did not respond on his mobile phone as he kept on saying ‘hallo, hallo’.
Last week, Cabinet informed the nation that 14 African countries had reported cholera outbreaks in 2023, with a cumulative 160 756 suspected cases reported, including 3 288 deaths as of 4 April 2023.
As of 16 April 2023, Zimbabwe’s cumulative suspected cholera cases stood at 457, with 438 recoveries. Eight of the ten provinces continue reporting cholera cases with the exceptions of Matabeleland North and Midlands provinces. Matabeleland South province has recorded 158 cases while Manicaland Province has 118.
The recorded number is likely to accumulate as some cases are not being recorded in clinics due to lack of testing kits.
Director of Community Working Group on Health, Joshua Rusike was not picking his mobile phone for a comment.
