Community Water Alliance (CWA) and Gweru Residents Forum (GRF) have called on government to address root causes of the recent typhoid outbreak in Gweru and stop harassing vendors who trading in the central business district to make ends meet.
Addressing the media in Harare yesterday, CWA Coordinator, Hardlife Mudzingwa confirmed that over 1000 cases have been recorded at Mkoba Polyclinic with 60 percent of the affected being children under the age of 10 years.
“We demand government to address root causes to typhoid outbreak and stop harassing those who are trying to earn a living in CBD,
“Visits made by Gweru Residents Forum showed that 1000 cases have been recorded at Mkoba Polyclinic alone by 15 August 2018. In village 2 at least 50 cases were recorded on a daily and on 5 August 2018 when (GRF) visited village 2 about 20 patients were admitted at the local clinic,
“Of those affected about 60% were children under the age of 10 years and to date more than 10 people have succumbed to typhoid,” said Mudzingwa.
He added that council reports points to use of water from wells contaminated by E Coli ( bacteria found in the environment, foods, and intestines of people and animals) and sewage in Mkoba 19.
“There is also reference to the city wide shut down in Gweru sometime in July whose mission was to cleanse the water tank at Kopje Range Booster, there are reports that council management forgot to cleanse the pipes which then carried the water residues. This contaminated water which was piped to residents,
“Some boreholes in Mkoba 19 and 20 alternated days of testing positive to human fecal matter and negative some days. There is also an assertion from some council officials that there was a burst water pipe in Mkoba 18 which mixed with sewage,” added Mudzingwa.
