Zimbabwe Survives Cholera, But Long-Term Aid Needed ...Continued from page 1

The group and other relief aid organizations have provided drugs, oral rehydration fluids and seconded staff with a medical background to assist at the quarantine camp to preserve the lives of those seeking treatment.

The team has also drilled and flushed boreholes in Beitbridge and Bulawayo and installed water reservoirs as part of long term measures to restore the supply of clean and safe water.

They have also partnered with European Union (ECHO) to help provide Water and Sanitation Hygiene (WASH) facilities to health institutions in rural Zimbabwe in response to the cholera epidemic. The $852,000 (U.S.) program will run until the end of August. It covers six districts of Guruve, Centenary, Rushinga, Mudzi, Buhera and Gwanda, providing boreholes and latrines.

“We are hopeful that the outbreak will not continue to spread and that the new water and sanitation systems will help prevent outbreaks in the future,” Dawit said. “One of the strongest indicators of the effectiveness of our work has been that the cholera outbreak has been subdued. Additionally, we have been able to help people in the quarantine camps and also provide prevention training to communities. We hope that this work will help mitigate future outbreaks.”

Merkelbach said since April 2009, one of the major areas of focus for the ICRC has been to provide food for 6,300 detainees in prison. “Working with the prison authorities, the ICRC has set up therapeutic feeding programs and has begun improving cooking facilities and water systems in prisons. Once the food situation has stabilized, the ICRC will continue to assess conditions of detention, refurbish kitchen and sanitation facilities and upgrade water supply systems. In addition, we will work to prevent the transmission of infectious diseases and will ensure that detainees receive the treatment they require in the event of any outbreak of disease such as cholera.”

Medical care is another urgent need. Each month, Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) medical teams perform between 4,000-5,000 consultations for Zimbabweans in the South African border town of Musina and at a clinic at the Central Methodist Church in inner-city Johannesburg.

“We see thousands of sick, wounded, psychologically scarred and marginalized Zimbabweans in both Johannesburg and Musina every month,” said Dr Eric Goemaere, medical coordinator for MSF in South Africa. “They come to us because they have nowhere else to turn. Many of those who reach us have chronic diseases, such as HIV and TB, and severe violence-related injuries, most often from rape and sexual assault experienced while crossing the border from Zimbabwe, but also in South Africa itself. Consultations in our Johannesburg clinic have almost tripled in the last year, a telling sign of the extent to which Zimbabweans are consistently denied access to even the most basic health services necessary for their survival.”

To find out how to help relief efforts in Zimbabwe, view this video from Campus Crusade.