'Two children died of diarrhoea'

Two of the three children who died after taking medication under the on-going mass drug administration programme for bilharzia succumbed to diarrhoea, a preliminary investigation has revealed.

The Ministry of Health and Child Care says the full report is expected to be made public in the next three weeks.

Addressing journalists in the capital, the Deputy Minister of Health and Child Care, Dr Paul Chimedza, who expressed grief at the death of the three children, said the ministry is still collating information on the number of children who developed side effects after taking the drugs.

A total of three million children have so far been given medication to prevent them from contracting bilharzia and intestinal worms.

The World Health Organisation country representative, Dr David Okello, said his organisation will continue to give support to the government of Zimbabwe to carry out the mass drug administration and will render assistance in finding the exact cause of the recorded deaths.

A National Prevalence Survey for Bilharzia and Intestinal Worms conducted in 2011 revealed that the two neglected tropical diseases are a major public health challenge.

The average district prevalence rate is 22.7 percent with the highest prevalence rate recorded in Shamva at 62.3 percent.

The mass drug administration programme is a direct response to the increase in the prevalence of the two diseases.