Zimbabwe: Nigel’s Story – the tragedy of country’s cholera outbreak

[Nigel Chigudu lost] five siblings in five hours to the cholera epidemic that has been sweeping across Zimbabwe. “They started vomiting and had serious diarrhoea,” recalls Nigel, 15. “The youngest, Gamu, was 14 months old, and Lameck was 12 years old. It was in the middle of the night; I could not take them anywhere. I just watched them die. “Two days later, my grandmother also passed away,” he adds.

Nigel lives in Budiriro Township, Harare, the epicentre of Zimbabwe’s latest cholera outbreak. [B]urst sewage pipes have left puddles and a permanent stench while months of uncollected refuse litter the streets. Filthy conditions like these have prompted UNICEF to make an international appeal for help to control the epidemic, which is spread by contaminated water.

[...] UNICEF has provided hundreds of thousands of water treatment tablets with a capacity to treat and purify water in more than 3 million households. It has also distributed thousands of oral rehydration salts, IV fluids and drips to treat diarrhoeal dehydration, as well as washing soap and buckets. In addition, UNICEF is trucking safe drinking water and mounting community-based water tanks in cholera-affected communities. There is also a drive to intensify hygiene education and health promotion.

[...] UNICEF has embarked on a $17 million emergency programme for the next 120 days. This programme will fund medicines for 70 per cent of the population; scale up community-based therapeutic feeding; carry out outreach immunization services, and provide incentives for teachers and nurses to return to work.

Listen to a UNICEF podcast about Nigel Chigudu here.

Source: Tsitsi Singizi, UNICEF, 19 Dec 2008

On 18 December 2008, there were 1123 registered deaths and 20896 suspected cases of cholera in Zimbabwe (OCHA Daily Cholera Report, 2008-12-18). Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF), predicts that the cholera epidemic in Zimbabwe will last well into 2009. Manuel Lopez, the head of MSF in the country, told the BBC the epidemic was still at a critical level and would not subside until the rains end in March. (BBC, 21 Dec 2008).

The outbreak could surpass 60,000 cases, according to an estimate by the Zimbabwe Health Cluster, which is a group coordinated by World Health Organization (WHO) and comprising health providers, nongovernmental organizations and the Ministry of Health and Child Welfare (MoHCW). The estimate is based on six million people, or half of Zimbabwe’s 12 million population, potentially being at risk of contracting cholera, with an estimated 1% of those at risk of actually suffering from cholera. (WHO, 10 Dec 2008)