The Sunday News
Tinomuda Chakanyuka Sunday News Reporter
THE Ministry of Health and Child Care has expressed anxiety over the health situation at Chingwizi transit camp in Masvingo province, calling for the immediate resettlement of the camp’s occupants to a safer habitat.Head of epidemiology and disease control in the ministry, Dr Portia Manangazira, warned of a ticking health time bomb at the camp, owing to the crowded unhygienic conditions at the temporary facility.
She said with the rainy season now approaching, Government needed to move faster on resettling Chingwizi occupants.
Her warning comes against a backdrop of typhoid, diarrhoea, malaria and dysentery having claimed lives in different parts of the country since the beginning of this year.
More than 3 000 families were relocated to Chingwizi transit camp, about 200km southeast of Masvingo town in early February this year, after they were displaced by floods.
Torrential rains caused water levels in the partially constructed Tokwe-Murkosi Dam catchment area to reach high levels causing partial breach of the dam wall.
Chingwizi transit camp lacks adequate shelter, running water and toilets, and with the rainy season just around the corner, the health situation at the facility might be worsened.
“That is a temporary set-up which we would want to remain as temporary as possible. We are worried with the situation at the camp and as the health ministry our wish is that these people be resettled as a matter of urgency.
“So far about 500 families have been moved and resettled which leaves about 2 500 families still staying at the camp. Although we are happy with the movement, the remaining number is still worrying. There is still serious health concerns, especially when one considers that the rainy season is about to start,” she said.
Owing to the shortage of proper toilet facilities at Chingwizi, authorities have reportedly resorted to digging trenches which are being used as makeshift ablution facilities.
However, because of the dry and rocky nature of the ground in the area, it is difficult to dig deep trenches, resulting in most of trenches being too shallow to effectively conceal human waste.
“We are looking at an estimated population of about 18 000 people, relying on less than 400 toilets. That ratio alone is a serious concern and forces some of the people to resort to open defecation, which, in that kind of a set up, will obviously expose people to diseases such as diarrhoea.
“We would want these people to have access to proper sanitation facilities as soon as possible and that cannot happen as long as they remain settled at the camp,” said Dr Manangazira.
The head of epidemiology and disease control in the health ministry also expressed concern at the diet being given to the camp’s occupants which she said might expose children to malnutrition.
She said much as the food supplies may be enough, concern was that of balance of the diet, a problem she said might only be solved if people were resettled and started growing their own food.
Dr Manangazira added that with the rainy season beckoning, it was prudent for people at Chingwizi to be resettled to enable them to carry on with their farming life which was their main economic activity before being displaced by the rains.
“From a food security point of view I think it is time that these people be resettled on plots so that they can grow their own food. Right now there is risk of malnutrition setting in. Yes people are getting protein through beans and kapenta but we strongly feel that it would be better if people are given an opportunity to grow their own food,” she said.
Dr Manangazira, however, maintained that while Chingwizi transit camp still exists, the health ministry would remain on top of the situation.
She said her ministry was fully prepared to deal with and contain any disease outbreak at the transit camp, outlining a raft of measures to help contain the health threat at the transit camp.
“A mass immunisation programme for various diseases for children under the age of five is going to be introduced soon. We also plan to put up another clinic and more toilets. We are in control of the situation and fully prepared to deal with any eventualities.
“We are working however, bearing in mind that this facility should be as temporary as possible,” she said.
According to the Ministry of Health and Child Care, a total of 462 people died of common diarrhoea in the first quarter of this year, out of a total of 283 777 recorded cases.
More than 70 percent of the cases have been recorded among children under the age of five years.
At least 12 000 cases of diarrhoea were recorded weekly throughout the country in the first six months of the year, with Manicaland and Mashonaland West provinces recording the highest cases.