Acting Highfield District Officer, Dr Michael Vera has confirmed that cases of typhoid have gone down, with at least 10 people being admitted per day down from the 50 recorded in October when the first outbreak was reported.
Vera told 263Chat on the sidelines of a typhoid awareness and environmental health action launch held in partnership with Caritas in Highfield, Harare today (Tuesday).
“The cases of typhoid have generally gone down since the first outbreak in October and we seem to be in control of the situation,
“In this particular area called Highfield we are happy that there are fewer cases than other areas,
“So we obviously want to emphasize the issue of cleanliness, treatment of water before drinking it, washing hands before eating the food too,” said Vera.
He added that the decrease in numbers shows that there is great improvement calling on people to maintain cleanliness if the city is to completely eradicate typhoid.
“The numbers have gone down, we used to admit 50 patients a day and the number has gone down to 10 a day,
“In total we have seen up to 2000 cases now,
“However a total eradication of typhoid can be difficult as about 5% become chronic carriers but people should keep on maintaining cleanliness, the wash issues and water sanitation,
“To also maybe achieve eradication a number of stakeholders will have to get involved, so we will have to work with the guys from EMA, water department in the city, waste department and health department,” added Vera.
He also told the meeting that the city has ordered the closure of all boreholes suspected to be sources of the outbreak.
Speaking at the same event, Caritas Program Manager, Takura Gwatinyanya said his organisation launched the programme to address the problems of typhoid which has become a threat in Harare.
“Typhoid has been a threat to Harare, so we decided to create awareness starting with the church and spread to other section concertize people on prevention of Typhoid and other related diseases,
“The church has called upon us to start implementing the dialogues to protect the God given gift mother earth,
“Highfield has started and all the other areas will start soon to educate people and initiate clean up campaigns,” said Gwatinyanya.
The organisation donated various goods to the people of Highfield including soaps, sanitizers, aqua tablets among other things.
