The typhoid outbreak that broke out in Zimbabwe’s capital late in 2016 has claimed the life of a 13 year-old girl in Harare’s township of Mbare.
There are fears it might spread to other parts of the country due to the heavy rains that have hit the capital.
Most residents have put the blame on the Zimbabwean government for the debilitating economic situation. This has seen Zimbabweans living in poverty and eking out a living as vendors.
But Local Government and Public Works Minister Saviour Kasukuwere lays the blame on the city authorities for failing to collect refuse and threatens to take action against them.
Kasukuwere says, “The situation here is deplorable. We have guys who are hands off. They don’t even know where the steering wheel is. There is no interest in the affairs of the town. It’s shocking!”
The Health Minister is calling on residents and authorities to work together to combat the typhoid outbreak.
Mbare is also on the site of Zimbabwe’s largest fresh vegetable market.
Harare City council says there is overcrowding in the area and council has put plans in place to decentralize the market.
Earlier, it issued vendors in the capital with a 48 hour ultimatum to stop trading in the city in a bid to try and combat the outbreak.
Health Minister David Parirenyatwa, says, “We will not be able to get rid of typhoid or cholera or diarrhoeal diseases as long as we have conditions like these.”
Parirenyatwa adds that unless clean food is sold, the typhoid outbreak will continue.
“If you look at the filth that is there; the worms that are breeding on the cabbages that are being sold; the sewage that are flowing; that is the proper breeding ground for disease. As long as we don’t clean these we won’t get rid of typhoid.”
This challenge arises as the country’s leader President Robert Mugabe is out of the country.
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– By SABC
