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Tot nu toe zijn er 560 levens en meer dan 12.000 gevallen van cholera gemeld.

Gisteravond is 13 ton medische goederen aangekomen op het vliegveld van Harare. De komende dagen worden de goederen gedistribueerd onder verschillende gezondheidscentra. Daarnaast levert het Rode Kruis schoon drinkwater aan twee klinieken sinds begin november. Zo'n 5000 liter water wordt vier keer per week afgeleverd. Ook zorgt het Rode Kruis voor de aanleg van nieuwe waterpunten en helpt met het ontstoppen van de riolering in Harare.


Hieronder volgt het gehele Engelstalige persbericht

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Zimbabwe: Red Cross increases support for cholera victims

Harare/Geneva (ICRC) - The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) is stepping up its response to the cholera outbreak in Zimbabwe by bringing in additional medical supplies. The disease has claimed more than 560 lives and over 12,000 cases have been recorded, according to health agencies.

A consignment of more than 13 tonnes of medical supplies arrived at HarareInternationalAirport last night from the ICRC's regional logistics centre in Nairobi, Kenya. The shipment included a complete cholera kit weighing over six tonnes and containing about 4,000 litres of rehydration fluids, infusion sets, antibiotics, needles, gloves and other medical supplies. The items will be distributed in the coming days to health-care centres. These include BeatriceInfectiousDiseasesHospital and polyclinics in the densely populated suburbs of Harare now converted into "cholera treatment units," and other facilities in the capital and elsewhere in the country. The rest of the consignment - seven tonnes of medical supplies - will be distributed to ICRC-supported health facilities, which include 15 clinics and three district hospitals in remote rural areas.

Among the items in the shipment were aprons, rubber boots, heavy-duty gloves and other protective clothing, refuse bags and mops, and chlorine for water purification. "Because of the risk of contagion, protective clothing is essential for staff working with cholera patients," explained Marcelle Baltzinger, an ICRC health delegate.

According to health professionals, the spread of cholera has been aggravated by lack of access to safe water. Some health-care facilities in Harare's suburbs are affected by this problem, and the ICRC continues to truck water to two clinics it has been supporting since the beginning of November. Over 5,000 litres of water have been delivered to each clinic four times a week since the beginning of last month. In addition, the ICRC has sunk boreholes at Budiriro and Glen View polyclinics, and pumps will soon be installed. It is also repairing existing boreholes at Rutsanana and Mabvuku polyclinics in Harare.

In order to stave off contamination of water sources by sewage, the ICRC distributed sewer rods to Harare municipal authorities and to the Zimbabwe National Water Authority this week to unblock the system where needed. This measure could help reduce the number of cholera cases, since people in some areas have to fetch water from shallow wells and other sources that could be contaminated by blocked sewers. Information on these activities is being shared with International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement partners and other humanitarian organizations with a view to ensuring optimal coordination of the current response.

Cholera is caused by the bacterium Vibrio cholerae. People contract cholera by drinking water or eating food contaminated with the bacterium, or through flies. Common symptoms include severe watery diarrhoea and sometimes vomiting, which can lead to severe dehydration, weakness and death.