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STORY: ZIMBABWE / CHOLERA
TRT: 2.33
SOURCE: UNICEF / WHO
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGES: ENGLISH / NATS
DATELINE: 28 AUGUST 2009, NEW YORK CITY / FILE
FILE – WHO – 10 DECEMBER 2008, HARARE, ZIMBABWE
1. Zoom in, admission section of the Budiriro Cholera Treatment Centre
2. Med shot, baby being treated by nurse
3. Med shot, two-year old boy being treated for cholera
UNICEF – 28 AUGUST 2009, NEW YORK CITY
4. SOUNDBITE (English) Dr. Mickey Chopra, Chief of Health, UNICEF:
“Unfortunately we do believe that cholera has become endemic within Zimbabwe, and with the rainy season coming in September there’s not been enough time to repair that infrastructure, so we are preparing for a cholera outbreak in the rainy season.”
FILE – WHO – 5 DECEMBER 2008, KATANGA UTANO CHOLERA TREATMENT CENTRE, DISTRICT OF NORTON, ZIMBABWE
5. Various shots, children suffering from cholera receiving treatment
FILE – UNICEF – 16-17 JANUARY 2009, HARARE, ZIMBABWE
6. Pan right, community to water truck
7. Close up, preparing pipes
8. Med shot, connecting pipe to truck
9. Close up, connecting pipe to truck
10. Med shot, filling buckets
11. Close up, filling buckets
UNICEF – 28 AUGUST 2009, NEW YORK CITY
12. SOUNDBITE (English) Dr. Mickey Chopra, Chief of Health, UNICEF:
“We are cooperating closely with the Zimbabwe government. The new agreements and governance there has meant that the relationship between the UN and the government has become better, and donors are more interested now in helping support the country, and we believe that a joint response to this epidemic will further increase collaboration with government.”
FILE – WHO – 5 DECEMBER 2008, HARARE, ZIMBABWE
13. Wide shot, WHO medicines being loaded into a vehicle at the "Natpharm" warehouse
FILE – WHO – 5 DECEMBER 2008, KATANGA UTANO CHOLERA TREATMENT CENTRE, DISTRICT OF NORTON, ZIMBABWE
14. Pan left, WHO supplies arriving at Norton cholera treatment centre
UNICEF – 28 AUGUST 2009, NEW YORK CITY
15. SOUNDBITE (English) Dr. Mickey Chopra, Chief of Health, UNICEF:
“Together we are preparing as much as we can to mitigate the impact of this, so for example we are stockpiling key supplies such as oral re-hydration solution, IV fluids for clinics, we’re printing out and increasing our communication and our hygiene and hand-washing messages, and also behavior change and education of mothers and carers in the home around oral re-hydration and hygiene when a child does get diarrhea.”
FILE – UNICEF – 16-17 JANUARY 2009, HARARE, ZIMBABWE
16. Wide shot, grandmother feeding child
17. Close up, grandmother feeding child
18. Tilt up, hand of patient to face
19. Tilt down, patient boards
The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF)’s top health official today (28 August) warned that the conditions that led to the worst cholera outbreak in Zimbabwe’s history last year remain and could spark a new epidemic this year.
In an interview for UNifeed, UNICEF Chief of Health Mickey Chopra said the continuous threat of cholera was not surprising considering the country’s “still very damaged and inadequate” water and sanitation infrastructure.
SOUNDBITE (English) Dr. Mickey Chopra, Chief of Health, UNICEF:
“Unfortunately we do believe that cholera has become endemic within Zimbabwe, and with the rainy season coming in September there’s not been enough time to repair that infrastructure, so we are preparing for a cholera outbreak in the rainy season.”
Zimbabwe recorded around 100,000 cases of cholera and more than 4,000 deaths between August 2008 and July 2009.
Over 90 per cent of Zimbabwe’s 62 districts were infected with the water-borne disease, with the majority of deaths occurring in rural areas where limited or no treatment was reaching the local population.
Chopra said that broken infrastructure continues to cause bacteria and other contaminants from sewage to wash back into water supplies. And even in urban areas, a lack of chemicals and equipment is making water purification difficult.
According to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), six million people in Zimbabwe have limited or no access to safe water and sanitation in rural and urban areas.
Asked about the Zimbabwean government’s level of cooperation in addressing the humanitarian challenges, Chopra said it had improved.
SOUNDBITE (English) Dr. Mickey Chopra, Chief of Health, UNICEF:
“We are cooperating closely with the Zimbabwe government. The new agreements and governance there has meant that the relationship between the UN and the government has become better, and donors are more interested now in helping support the country, and we believe that a joint response to this epidemic will further increase collaboration with government.”
In June UN agencies and their partners requested 718 million dollars to address humanitarian needs in the country, including boosting access to clean water, and providing food aid and education. To date, some 53 per cent of that appeal has been funded.
UNICEF is working closely with the World Health Organization (WHO) to be prepared for another cholera outbreak.
SOUNDBITE (English) Dr. Mickey Chopra, Chief of Health, UNICEF:
“Together we are preparing as much as we can to mitigate the impact of this, so for example we are stockpiling key supplies such as oral re-hydration solution, IV fluids for clinics, we’re printing out and increasing our communication and our hygiene and hand-washing messages, and also behavior change and education of mothers and carers in the home around oral re-hydration and hygiene when a child does get diarrhea.”
Dr. Mickey Chopra took up his post as Chief of Health and Associate Director of Programmes at UNICEF’s New York Headquarters in August 2009, leading the agency’s work on maternal, newborn and child health, immunization, pediatric HIV/AIDS, and health systems strengthening, policy and research.
Prior to his appointment to UNICEF, Dr. Chopra was the director of the Health Systems Research Group of the South Africa Medical Research Council.
