Fresh water provided to Zimbabweans by heavy rains is helping to slow the cholera epidemic, medical sources in the country said, though they added that there remains much to be done to establish sustainable sources of clean drinking water across the country.
In Harare and other cities residents are collecting rainwater which is relatively safer than the water available from local wells or even municipal supplies drawn from the tap.
Sustained heavy rains this late in the rainy season have also washed away disease-carrying contaminants that the initial rains carried into water sources.
The World Health Organization updated figures on the epidemic Wednesday, reporting that a total of 4,115 people have died since the epidemic started last August, from a cumulative 94,013 cases. The update noted 76 new cases and 3 new deaths.
Dr. Douglas Gwatidzo, chairman of the Zimbabwe Association Of Doctors For Human Rights, told reporter Marvellous Mhlanga-Nyahuye that it will take sustained effort by public health and those restoring water infrastructure to end the cholera epidemic.
