[April 20, 2009] Awareness Up, Cholera Cases Down Tweet Apr 20, 2009 (Zimbabwe Standard/All Africa Global Media via COMTEX) -- HUMANITARIAN agencies say cases of cholera in the country continue to slow down and they attribute this to high awareness levels. Unicef communications officer Tsitsi Singizi said over the past two months there has been an "encouraging" decline in cases of cholera in most parts of the country. Singizi said the trend around the country shows that the epidemic is slowing down and attributed the decline to educational campaigns being undertaken by aid agencies. She said for the first time since the cholera epidemic broke out last August, on April 9 Zimbabwe did not record a cholera death. "Whereas at the peak of the epidemic an average of 1 500 cases were recorded throughout the country on a daily basis, there has been a drastic reduction to around 100 cases a day," Singizi told The Standard. "We find this decline to be very encouraging. The ideal situation, of course, would be that we don't have a cholera crisis at all. But this development doesn't mean all the hard work has to stop. If at all aid agencies must really step up efforts to bring cholera under control." The World Health Organization (WHO) last week said as of April 14 at least 4 264 people had died of cholera in the country while a total of 96 423 cases had been recorded since August 2008. Singizi said there were worrying reports of cholera cases in Harare, Chitungwiza and Mashonaland West province. In these areas, aid agencies are concerned about problems of water supply and general sanitation issues. As a result of the water crisis last week Budiriro and Glen View areas reportedly had an upsurge of cholera cases, according to Unicef. The director of Community Working Group on Health (CWGH), Itai Rusike warned against complacency in light of the decline in cholera cases. Rusike said CWGH visited parts of Bikita, Zaka, and Chiredzi in Masvingo province, where he saw signs of a "huge slow down". He said although there were still a few sporadic cases "here and there", the cases are easily manageable when presented on time to a treatment centre. "We are still very worried about those deaths that are occurring in communities and that go unreported because these are potentially disastrous. Although many people now know about the disease, communication problems in rural areas may be a challenge," Rusike said. He warned of a much bigger cholera epidemic if problems such as burst sewer pipes, water supply and refuse collection are not addressed. "In 2006, we warned government on the possibility of a cholera epidemic but they didn't listen. "It is a matter for concern to us that the problems that caused the cholera in the first place have not been dealt with. Since the cholera epidemic began last year, relief agencies, under the coordination of WHO, have been working tirelessly to bring the cholera epidemic under control. [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]