Union Rescue Mission, The Way Home

URM sending aid to fight cholera

by monica on Thursday, March 26th, 2009, Filed Under General, The Latest | View Comments

“Union Rescue Mission, in partnership with Giving Children Hope (www.gchope.org), has sent cholera-fighting medicines to Zimbabwe. More than 20,000 people have been infected by the cholera outbreak and over 1,100 people have been killed by this curable disease. ”

The cholera outbreak was first reported in the high density suburb of Budiriro in Harare in October 2008. Most city health workers (including doctors and nurses) were on strike due to poor working conditions and very low remuneration. In partnership with Giving Children Hope and other partners, we managed to secure a donation to pay them their allowances and provide groceries and meals in order for the staff to return to work. We focused efforts to help the people in the Budiriro Clinic and the Beatrice Road Infectious Diseases Hospital (BRIDH) — the two cholera treatment camps. There are still efforts being made to contain the cholera outbreak in the area, with the main thrust being directed towards massive community education and awareness campaigns carried out by our partner teams, which have spread their wings to other suburbs such as Glen Norah, Glen View, Mbare and Highfield where there is a high risk of cholera outbreak due to poor sanitation and the lack of a safe water supply.

URM and its partners have been able to support the setting up a cholera treatment camp (CTC) in Chegutu, approximately 100km away from the capital city, Harare. The outbreak in Chegutu was caused by sewage filtering into and contaminating the water supply of the high density area due to low water pressure and vandalized or burst pipes.

At the local hospital only 3 nurses were reporting for duty despite there were over 300 patients in the hospital who had been admitted and the average daily case fatality rate was 10. The Celebration Health, our partner team, was mobilized and deployed quickly, armed with medical supplies from the partners and the Ministry of Health and Child Welfare. On arrival in Chegutu on 12 December 2008, the team, led by Drs Andrew Reid, Jabulani Nyenwa and Kuda Katurura, was met by patients who were severely dehydrated, with some lying in their own waste and the smell of decaying bodies, cholera stool and chlorine all mixed together. The sight was almost overwhelming but the team remained focused. The team started work at midnight and they worked tirelessly all night, administering 1200 liters of fluid (Ringers Lactate) in 7 hours to the nearly 200 patients on site.

The immediate impact of this intervention was seen and felt as the fatality rate dropped from 10 to 1 within the first 24 hours. The team also helped to put in place administrative systems and structures so that the relief efforts could be sustained. A good working relationship was established with other partners and NGOs that later came into the area. Our teams continued to oversee the work in the CTC and their work continues.”