HARARE, Sept. 18 (Xinhua) -- The Zimbabwe government said Tuesday redesigning of water and sewer pipes is the only long-term solution to stop the recurrence of cholera outbreaks in the country.
A cholera outbreak that has killed 30 people and infected more than 5,000 others has gripped Harare, the second such major outbreak in the country since 2008 when 4,000 people died from the water borne disease.
The Harare outbreak started at the beginning of this month and has since spread to other parts of the country.
The outbreak is linked to borehole water contaminated with sewer from burst pipes.
The Harare city council has been failing to provide potable water form some time, forcing residents to rely on unsafe water from community boreholes and open wells.
Information minister Monica Mutsvangwa told journalists that cabinet resolved at its Monday meeting that sewer and water reticulation infrastructure should be redesigned to avert outbreaks of diarrhoeal diseases in the future.
"Cabinet resolved that a two-pronged approach be taken to deal with the outbreak of the cholera epidemic, namely the ongoing implementation of interventions to address the current outbreak and the implementation of long-term measures centered on the provision of adequate clean water and upgrading of both water and sewer reticulation systems," she said.
She said cabinet had also resolved that resources be mobilized from external partners to modernize the water and sewer reticulation systems as well as address the challenge of illegal and unserviced human settlements in urban areas.
Mutsvangwa said cabinet also established an inter-ministerial committee to spearhead implementation of short and long-term measures to address cholera outbreaks in the country.
The government has since launched a 57 million U.S. dollars appeal to contain the outbreak with some of the financial resources earmarked towards revamping water and sewer infrastructure in cholera hot-spots. Enditem
