MSF teams react to cholera outbreak in Harare
In Zimbabwe’s capital Harare, Médecins sans Frontières is responding to an outbreak of cholera, which the local Ministry of Health has declared “the biggest ever in Harare.” MSF has set up cholera treatment centres, where 500 patients have been treated to date and around 38 new patients are admitted every day. About 78 percent of the patients mostly come from two densely populated suburbs in the south west of Harare, Budiriro and Glen View, as well as the neighbouring suburbs of Mbare, Kambuzuma, Kwanzana and Glen Norah. Up to 1.4 million people are in danger should the outbreak continue to spread.
“At Budiriro CTC things are getting out of hand. There are so many patients that the nurses are overwhelmed. In the observation area one girl died sitting on a bench. The staff is utilising each and every available room and still in the observation area patients are lying on the floor," said MSF water and sanitation officer, Precious Matarutse. "A man came to the clinic yesterday for treatment. His wife had just died at home and that is what made his relatives realise this is serious so they brought the man to the clinic. They wanted to know what to do with the wife’s body. People are concerned about catching cholera from others. Health education must be intensified to inform the population”.
Since being asked to assist with the outbreak in Harare, MSF has been providing staff and medical and logistic resources at both treatment centres. The challenges MSF teams face in the CTCs are manifold. Vittorio Varisco, MSF logistician, described the struggle: “It is a constant challenge to keep up with increasing patient numbers. We are running out of ward space and beds for the patients. Today patients at the Infectious Diseases Hospital are lying outside on the grass and we are setting up tents with additional beds as an overflow for the wards.”
Cholera is no new phenomenon in crisis-shaken Zimbabwe. In some of the rural areas of the country, cholera is endemic and occurs every year. However, until recently, cholera was relatively rare in urban areas where most homes have treated, piped water and flush toilets. With the ongoing economic crisis and the constantly deteriorating living conditions these urban areas are more and more affected. The fact that the recent outbreaks of cholera have commenced before the rains are a clear indication of the deteriorating sanitary conditions and shortage of clean water, and a worrying precursor to the rainy season.