STORY: Zimbabwe's cholera outbreak ignites calls for hygienic practices
SHOOTING TIME: Nov. 19, 2023
DATELINE: Nov. 20, 2023
LENGTH: 00:03:39
LOCATION: Harare
CATEGORY: HEALTH

SHOTLIST:
1. various of patients
2. various of local communities 
3. various of local water supply
4. SOUNDBITE 1 (Shona): PATRICK MUTISI, Local resident
5. SOUNDBITE 2 (English): MICHAEL VERE, Harare City Council's head of epidemiology and disease control
6. SOUNDBITE 3 (English): MICHAEL VERE, Harare City Council's head of epidemiology and disease control
7. SOUNDBITE 4 (English): DOUGLAS MOMBESHORA, Zimbabwe's Minister of Health and Child Care
8. SOUNDBITE 5 (Shona): GLADYS MASARA, Street vendor in Kuwadzana
9. SOUNDBITE 6 (Shona): ANGELINE FORMOZA, Local resident
10. SOUNDBITE 7 (Shona): GEORGINA MUSIYAZVIRIYO, Local resident

STORYLINE:

A Cholera outbreak in Harare, Zimbabwe's capital, has ignited calls for increased hygienic practices to prevent its spread as the city battles a shortage of clean water.

SOUNDBITE 1 (Shona): PATRICK MUTISI, Local resident
"This week, several people we interacted with were infected with cholera. We are deeply in pain. We are deeply saddened. This is an easily preventable disease."
   
The epicenter of the outbreak is the high-density suburb of Kuwadzana, which registered nearly half of the reported cases, according to Michael Vere, Harare City Council's head of epidemiology and disease control.
   
The city of Harare has been struggling to provide adequate tap water to the growing population, which has resulted in residents resorting to unclean sources.
   
SOUNDBITE 2 (English): MICHAEL VERE, Harare City Council's head of epidemiology and disease control
"The city at the moment is not able to produce adequate water. We only produce around a third of the required water supply for the city, so this is inadequate."

The water that the city is getting from Lake Chivero, Harare's main source, is heavily contaminated and requires a lot of chemicals to treat it, he said.
   
SOUNDBITE 3 (English): MICHAEL VERE, Harare City Council's head of epidemiology and disease control
"We also need to make sure that our sewer system is also rehabilitated because the sewer system that we have in Harare is no longer able to cope with the population that is there, so it's overloaded."
   
Douglas Mombeshora, Zimbabwe's Minister of Health and Child Care, said that at least 12 lives have been lost with seven from Kuwadzana, which prompted a swift response from the government.
   
SOUNDBITE 4 (English): DOUGLAS MOMBESHORA, Zimbabwe's Minister of Health and Child Care
"There is a lot of movement of people to all areas of the country from Harare. That's why we are mounting a huge response to this cholera outbreak so that we suppress the cases in Harare."

To address the scourge of cholera, the government announced that it had approved a 12 million U.S. dollars budget for the national cholera outbreak response.
   
SOUNDBITE 5 (Shona): GLADYS MASARA, Street vendor in Kuwadzana
"We hope the government will intervene and supply us with treated water so that we can get clean water because we cannot afford to buy water."
      
SOUNDBITE 6 (Shona): ANGELINE FORMOZA, Local resident
"Sometimes we can go for two weeks or three weeks without water, and in that case, we can't flush toilets, that's where the disease is originating."

SOUNDBITE 7 (Shona): GEORGINA MUSIYAZVIRIYO, Local resident
"We witnessed people who were infected, some of them passed away. So it's very frightening, so we always try by all means to protect our health by drinking treated water, eating washed fruits, that's what we are doing to protect our health."

The authorities are advising the public against going to unauthorized marketplaces, or public gatherings.

Xinhua News Agency correspondents reporting from Harare.
(XHTV)