Let's fight typhoid before it's too late

It is disheartening that the country has recently started recording typhoid cases in Glen-View and Budiriro. Typhoid is a serious and potentially fatal bacterial infection that is caused by drinking dirty water, eating unclean food, uncollected refuse and illegal vending.

Recently, Harare city council urged the public that tape water was safe to drink. Unfortunately, when this tape water is boiled, green frothy appears in the boiling water indicating that it is not safe to drink.

It is of paramount importance that Harare city council and other urban councils should make efforts to reticulate water and sewer system as a way of purifying water. It is indeed worrisome that ever since the country attained independence in 1980 there has never been an upgrading of water and sewer infrastructure.

The sewer system that was constructed before independence was meant for a small population if we are to compare it with today's populace. The number of urban dwellers has now doubled the number of people who lived in towns before independence. Most people are migrating from rural areas to urban areas for a number of different reasons hence, causing overcrowding.

Population congestion in urban areas contributes to diseases such as typhoid and cholera. There is really need for revamping of these outdated sewer system so that they will corresponds well with the number of people who dwell in certain houses in urban areas. Most houses are occupied with three to four families who share the same toilet. This is one of the healthy hazards that need urgent attention. However, urban councils should try by all means to upgrade such outdated sewer systems in order to reduce spread of diseases.

There are some areas where city council is failing to collect refuse. Used pampers, rotten mangoes, and maize cobs also contributes to such bacterial diseases. City council should frequently collect refuse from all areas around town.

To add on, the public should be encouraged to wash their hands thoroughly after visiting the toilet and before consuming any type of food.

Illegal vendors who are located all over the town are also a major concerns in the spreading of diseases. Most of these vendors will be situated in areas where there are no toilets. There are few toilets in town and most of them are pay toilets. Hence, vendors will resort to any concealed area thereby risking the spread of diseases through bacteria.

City council should also ensure that all locations and suburbs have adequate supply of water. Areas such as Mount Pleasant, Greendale and Ruwa have gone for years without tape water. This can also widen the transmission of these bacterial diseases