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(TALKZIMBABWE) WHO unveils cholera emergency plan

WHO unveils cholera emergency plan
Ranganai Chidemo
Wed, 03 Dec 2008 02:59:00 +0000

THE World Health Organization has started an emergency health plan to control the current outbreak of cholera, which it says has claimed 484 lives since August.

The organisation has dispatched an emergency team of 20 international experts to Zimbabwe to work with WHO staff in ZImbabwe, government health sector and private organisations in he country in an effort to try and contain the cholera epidemic.

The organisation reported that it will work with about 10 partners in the country aiming to reduce deaths by providing safe water and sanitation, particularly in health facilities.

The team will also aim to isolate infected people, ensure early case detection, improve access to health care and ensure adequate care.

According to a report issued Tuesday by the U.N. agency, the number of cholera cases in Zimbabwe has increased to 11,735, including the 484 deaths.

The death rate at this point is 4 percent of all cases, which is high, said Fadela Chaib, WHO spokeswoman.

Chaib said the high death rate probably meant that sick people did not arrive to the medical centers quickly enough, or that even once they arrived there was a shortage of medicines.

The WHO has been at the forefront of efforts to control the cholera epidemic in Zimbabwe.

U.N. agencies including the WHO, UNICEF and partners including the International Organization for Migration (IOM) have been distributing emergency health kits, water purification tablets, oral rehydration salts and other essential supplies and training volunteers in hygiene promotion in Zimbabwe's worst-hit areas for a number of months.

Labels: CHOLERA, HARARE, WHO

posted by MrK @ 9:37 AM