HEALTH minister David Parirenyatwa yesterday accused Harare City Council authorities of sleeping on duty, as typhoid continues to spread in the capital, where it has claimed two lives since last week.
Phyllis Mbanje
Parirenyatwa said the outbreak was being spawned by erratic water supplies, poor refuse collection and slow attendance to sewer blockages by council staff.
“Typhoid is purely caused by poor hygienic practices and, no matter what we do as a ministry, if the issues are not addressed, we fail,” he said.
Mbare residents remain on the edge in the aftermath of the two deaths, as raw sewage continues to flow in the streets of Harare’s oldest suburb. Stakeholders also called for concerted efforts to combat the outbreak.
“It is very sad that Zimbabwe is failing to learn from the cholera crisis of 2008-9. Typhoid is a medieval disease that can be easily managed when the social determinants of health care are properly addressed within a functional public health delivery system,” Itai Rusike, the director of Community Working Group on Health, said.
