Minister of Health and Child Care, Dr David Parirenyatwa expressed disappointment at the City of Harare Health Department for its negligence in Mbare leading to the typhoid outbreak at Matapi Flats.
Speaking after visiting a 24-hour clinic set up this Wednesday to attend to typhoid patients in Mbare, Parirenyatwa said the City of Harare and the local government were responsible for the outbreak that has hit Harare for the second time this year.
“Local Government should get rid of the crowded hostels breeding these diseases where families live in large numbers, it’s is one of the reasons causing typhoid.
“City of Harare should address the poor sanitation and water problems in Mbare, for example the borehole in Block 9 is not working and there is burst sewage with fecal matter, it then looks bad on the Health Department when preventable diseases like this erupt.
“The job of the Health Department is to cure these diseases but the cause is coming from else where,” said Parirenyatwa.
“Issues of typhoid, cholera and diarrhea will never be defeated as long as we have poor sanitation in this country, poor water supply, poor sewage system. Whatever we do in the health sector, as long as people are not getting clean water and sewage are not disposed we should expect some of these conditions.
“As far as the health system is concerned, we will try treat and talk about it for prevention, as long as we have a dirty City like this one we will continue to have problems of Cholera and Typhoid,” added Parirenyatwa.
He urged people with typhoid symptoms to quickly get checked at the 24-hour clinic set up in Mbare.
“I urge those with high temperatures, stomach aches and headaches to quickly rush to the clinic to get screened,” said Parirenyatwa.
150 people were screened on Wednesday with 23 of them found with typhoid and taken to Beatrice Road Infectious Diseases Hospital.
Parirenyatwa urged people affected by typhoid not to take any form of antibiotics from anywhere as they will mask the disease.
