Oxfam hands over Water Quality Testing and Monitoring Kit

In an effort to contribute towards strengthening the current and future capacity of the City of Harare's Health Department in its efforts to respond to disease outbreaks such as Cholera and Typhoid, Oxfam in Zimbabwe donated a Wagtech Portable Water Quality Testing and Monitoring Kit.

Hundreds of thousands of people in the city's high-density suburbs are expected to benefit long term from the improvements around water quality information now available to the City Council and as a result improved supply of safe drinking water to residents.

The kit is part of a number of WASH initiatives currently running such as training to community health workers on the use of Participatory Health and Hygiene Education tools, social marketing of water guard in Mbare, Hopley and Stoneridge being spearheaded by Oxfam, UNICEF and partners aimed at ensuring disaster risk reduction mechanisms put in place are effective and last long term contributing towards building the resilience of the once vulnerable residence of the city's high density suburbs.

"As the City Health department we have a key role to play, we will make use of the Wagtech kit to improve quality of water for our residents," said John Manyara the citie's Chief Environmental Health Officer after the water quality testing training of fifty environmrntal health offcers.

The City Council also highlighted the need to have more kits and ensure the Sampling Unit within the Harare City Health department and all districts have access to and make use of the kit.