 |
|
|
|
| |
|
| |
|
|
 |
USAID Information:
External Links:
|
|
|
|
|
U.S. Gives $6.8M to Zimbabwe Cholera Crisis
FrontLines - March 2009
By Chris Thomas
USAID is providing emergency
assistance to the people of Zimbabwe to address a cholera outbreak that began in August 2008. To date, the epidemic has killed more than 3,700 people in a country already hobbled by political and economic chaos.
Cholera is affecting all 10 provinces
and 56 out of 62 districts in Zimbabwe, according to the World Health Organization. As of Feb. 20, more than 79,000 cases of cholera had been reported.
USAID has provided nearly $6.8 million for emergency relief supplies, water, sanitation, hygiene, and health care.
Cholera—an easily preventable and treatable intestinal infection—is usually transmitted through contaminated water or food. The bacteria cause profuse watery diarrhea and, without adequate treatment, can lead to death by sudden dehydration. Those who are malnourished can be at especially
high risk of death.
The most important treatment is simple rehydration, which consists
of prompt replacement of the water and salts lost through severe diarrhea and vomiting. Early rehydration,
which USAID has helped fund, can save the lives of nearly all cholera patients. Most can be rehydrated quickly and easily by drinking large quantities of a solution
of oral rehydration salts.
Though cholera typically emerges seasonally in Zimbabwe on a small scale, the number of cases and the inability of local health workers to prevent its ferocious
spread have caused alarm across the globe. The disease is rampant because drinking water has been contaminated by broken water pipes and open sewage, further
spread by lack of rainwater drainage. Many people dig shallow
wells in their yards to obtain water but lack the chemicals to purify it, while others must use water from contaminated community
water points.
In addition to financial assistance,
USAID’s Office of U.S. Foreign Disaster Assistance dispatched
a Disaster Assistance Response Team to Harare to coordinate
U.S. emergency assistance and to provide technical expertise to help combat the outbreak.
The Agency also provided 10 million water treatment tablets, 30,000 water containers, and 30,000 buckets in addition to 440,000 bars of soap to the U.N. Children’s Fund for distribution as part of hygiene education programs. Proper hygiene—including basic hand washing—is a first step in preventing spread of the disease.
Since October 2007, the U.S. government has provided more than $260 million in humanitarian assistance for Zimbabwe’s complex
emergency, including the health and food crises. Cholera has only added to those problems.
“This outbreak did not happen
overnight,” said Dirk Djikerman, USAID’s Acting Assistant Administrator for Democracy, Conflict and Humanitarian Assistance. “Zimbabwe’s health care system and infrastructure have severely deteriorated over the years. Poorly maintained water and sanitation systems, coupled with increasingly inaccessible health and other services, have caused the cholera outbreak and high case fatality rate in Zimbabwe.”
Zimbabwe has been in freefall
for years, with food shortages
and the collapse of health care, education, and basic municipal services like water. The country is experiencing astronomical hyperinflation, most recently estimated to be over a quadrillion percent; last year’s election and run-off led to violence; and the political parties of President Robert Mugabe’s government and newly sworn-in Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai are still negotiating the implementation of a power-sharing arrangement.
★
FrontLines is published
by the Bureau for Legislative and Public Affairs
U.S. Agency for International Development
To have FrontLines delivered
to you via postal mail, please subscribe.
Material should be submitted
by mail to Editor, FrontLines, USAID,
RRB, Suite 6.10, Washington, DC 20523-6100;
by FAX to 202-216-3035; or by e-mail to frontlines@usaid.gov
To view PDF files, download
the Adobe
Acrobat Reader.
Back to Top ^
|
