Health workers fear death toll understated
“WE buried all my children in plastic bags.” This is the lament of Stella Manhando, a Zimbabwean grandmother whose family has been devastated by cholera.
As tears track down her face, Manhando soothes baby Tinotenda, her family’s youngest cholera survivor.
Yesterday, Manhando, a widow, told The Times that she had lost two daughters and a grandson within a week to the easily curable disease.
Cholera has devastated Zimbabwe, leaving hundreds dead.
“Tinotenda’s mother died of cholera,” she said. As if on cue, the two-month-old baby boy started to cry.
The Manhondo’s two-roomed home in Mbare township, Harare, used to house eight people. Now there are only five.
“My elder sister, Hazvineyi, became ill and died suddenly,” said Manhondo’s surviving daughter, Patience. “The day we buried her is the same day her son Tipeyi died.”
Tipeyi was only 11 years old.
She said mourners who had gathered at her house also fell ill.
“They were all throwing up,” said Manhando’s daughter, Patience.
Six people were admitted to the nearby Nazareth Hospital — but only three survived. One of the dead was Tinotenda’s teenage mother, Shamiso.
“My young sister, Shamiso, was discharged from hospital but she died the next day,” said Patience.
Manhando, who is also on cholera medication, said all there was to eat at home was three mealie cobs and a bag of salt.
She said the Catholic Church was helping with baby milk.
A week ago, cholera turned Manhando’s world upside down. But health authorities did not declare the outbreak a national disaster until late on Wednesday.
“Our central hospitals are literally not functioning,” admitted Health Minister David Parirenyatwa. He urged Western donors to help tackle the country’s worst cholera outbreak in 15 years.
Zimbabwe’s government claims that 563 lives have been lost to cholera, but health worker Aleya Madedza said the figure is much higher.
Madedza, who works at Nazareth Hospital, said: “We deal with about 30 bodies a day.”
She said the bodies were disinfected and sealed in plastic bags before being released for burial.
With the cost of funerals beyond the reach of many, plastic bags have replaced coffins.
Though the water supply has been restored to most parts of Harare, health officials are advising people not to drink tap water.
The Red Cross and the World Health Organisation are working to bring the disease under control.
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