Is open defecation source of Zim’s health crisis?

Lazarus Sauti

Zimbabwe is scrambling to contain an outbreak of typhoid, with 2 160 cases reported which had led to seven deaths earlier this week.

The Ministry of Health and Child Care says typhoid is a major concern in various parts of the country.

“The cumulative figures for typhoid are 2 159 suspected cases, 77 confirmed cases and seven deaths,” the ministry said in its weekly briefing.

There were 10 suspected cases of cholera with three of them confirmed and one death reported. 

Health and environmental experts believe open defecation – the practice whereby people go out in fields, bushes, forests, open bodies of water, or other open spaces rather than using the toilet to defecate – is greatly to blame for waterborne diseases such as typhoid and cholera currently affecting Zimbabweans.

Nationally, 37 percent of rural households still practice open defecation, according to statistics from an annual Zimbabwe Vulnerability Assessment Committee (Zimvac) report for 2016.

“Zimbabwe is battling with waterborne diseases like typhoid and cholera, thanks to open defecation, poor water quality, uncollected waste in urban and semi-urban areas as well as unhygienic practices,” says water and sanitation expert, Matthew Chiramba. “Open defecation is the source of organic, bacterial, ground water and surface water pollution. It also pollutes catchment areas.”

He adds that open defecation also impacts on personal dignity, especially on women and girls as they risk shame, disease, harassment and attacks.

Environmentalist, Edson Nyahwa, says open defecation is a serious environmental as well as health and safety issue confronting Zimbabweans as improperly disposed human waste not only pollutes water, killing plants and fish, but also releases methane gas into the atmosphere which is part of the green house gasses that cause global warming.

“Open defecation should be equated to an environmental as well as health crime. It impacts negatively on socio-economic development and should not be tolerated if the country is to attain the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) on sanitation,” he adds.

Harare City Council Health Services director, Dr. Prosper Chonzi, believes stakeholders should put a lot of effort towards addressing environmental issues that drive waterborne diseases such as typhoid and cholera.

Nyahwa also says that the management of wastes must be considered, and conventional sewerage should be supplemented with ecological sanitation technologies that make use of nutrients in human waste.

“The government, at every level, and stakeholders in environment, water and sanitation sectors should invest more in the provision of water and public toilets, create awareness on the dangers of open defecation as well as encourage the anaerobic digestion of sewage to produce biogas for energy,” he adds.

Traditional leader, Robson Wagoneka, says open defecation, which he also considers as a well-established traditional practice deeply ingrained from early childhood, reduces the aesthetic beauty of an area, and believes social norms and habits need to be changed if the practice is to be eliminated.

“Building public toilets is a good move and vital for improving the lives of people, especially the poorest, but honestly it will not do the job,” Wagoneka says. “Changing social norms and habits will achieve the desired goals.”

He also urges the government to support as well as strengthen the participation of local communities in improving water and sanitation management.

Wagoneka adds that there is a serious need for health education and promotion on personal hygiene, a fact supported by Dr Portia Manangazira, the Director in the Ministry of Health and Child Care responsible for Epidemiology and Disease Control, who adds, “There is also need to avail resources for the training of more health personnel so that they gain understanding of diagnosing diseases such as typhoid as well as cholera and quickly put patients on medication.”

In-depth research, notes the Zimvac (2016) report, is required to understand the casual factors of the relatively high prevalence of open defecation across the country.

“The government should also promote demand-led approaches that involve systematic and structured information, education, and communication and inter-personal communication elements to better hygienic practices needed for effective uptake of interventions, with a particular focus on behaviour change,” the report adds.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Why the hell are men and women prepared to poison themselves for sex?

Lazarus Sauti Tim Marufu uses Congo dust, a sex enhancing drug from the Democratic Republic of Congo, to prolong his erection. He said the aphrodisiac, which is rubbed on the male organ, results in lengthy sex rounds. “ NeCongo dust unoanchor mudhara, unochimhanya (With Congo dust you can enjoy length sex sessions). “ Uyu mushonga wechikwapuro; ukangozora chete simbi yako inozhamba (This drug is powerful. If you properly apply it, your partner will cry in bed),” said Marufu, adding that “the powder prolongs an erection for up to an hour if applied correctly.” Explaining how Congo dust works, he says, “You just take a pinch and rub it at the tip of your organ at least three hours before being intimate.” During the process of an erection, he added, the penis enlarges and stiffens as a result of changes within muscles, nerves and blood vessels of the organ . Marabha, a vendor who sells Congo dust at Cnr. 7 th and Samora Ave in Harare, says Congo dust comes i...
Read more

Battered Men: The Hidden Side of Domestic Violence

Lazarus Sauti Maxwell Svedhani (34), a father of two girls from Bhora Juru Growthpoint, Mashonaland East Province, is living a hell of a life as he is mentally, physically and also sexually abused by Runako, her violent wife of nine years. “My wife hits me with her fists, kicks, burns, slams, punches, pushes and bites me in front of our children. On top of that, she oftenly threatens and intimidates me, denies me sex and food as well as locks me out of the house,” he said. Svedhani added that his wife belittles his abilities and competencies, initiates name-calling insults, and silently treats him in addition to subverting his relationship with the children. The battered man, who attempted homicide for four times, is suffering in silence and mostly fears for his children who are witnessing the violence as it is perpetrated by his wife on a daily basis. “My major trepidation is that my two precious girls who are witnessing this violence in our home might develop sig...
Read more

Are butt-fattening pills real?

Lazarus Sauti Large posteriors are beautiful marks for most African women and despite health hazards and side effects such as kidney failure, blurred vision, sedation, dry mouth and gastrointestinal, women jostle to get them. In Zimbabwe, most women use Apetito tablets, illegal injections as well as chicken-fattening pills to acquire fake behinds. These illegal tablets as well as chicken-fattening pills are smuggled into the country from countries like India, Mozambique, Nigeria, South Africa and Zambia. The Zimbabwe Revenue Authority asserts that an increase in seized contraband of butt-fattening pills shows amplified circulation of such drugs in the country. Recently, alert Zimra officers stationed at Chirundu One-Stop Border Post confiscated a huge consignment of skin lightening creams as well as butt-enhancing tablets which were carefully stashed in a well-carved opening on the trailer of a haulage truck destined for Harare. “Skin lightening creams and “bod...
Read more