Mozambican citizens continue to cross the border to Zimbabwe to seek medication for cholera which has affected hundreds of people.
Authorities say 25 cases out of 121 suspected cases reported in Zimbabwe emanate from one village in Mozambique.
The villagers from Kadunje are currently being treated for Cholera at Chiwenga Clinic, Centenary District, Mashonaland Central Province, bordering Mozambique.
Authorities in the Ministry of Health and Child (MoHCC) of Zimbabwe say they cannot turn away Mozambican citizens from seeking cholera medication on grounds of their nationality or migration status.
Ministry of Health National Spokesperson, Mr Donal Mujiri told HealthTimes in an interview that their mandate was to save lives. Said Mr Mujiri:
As you are aware, most Clinics that are in areas bordering Mozambique end up treating nationals from both Zimbabwe and Mozambique due to the porous nature of our borders. We cannot send patients away. As the Ministry of Health, we are mandated to treat every patient who presents with an illness at our facilities regardless of their nationality.
Mujiri added that Zimbabwe is very much prepared to deal with the cholera outbreak adding, “We are in control of the situation.”
Mozambique has to date recorded 7 720 Cholera cases, making it one of the countries in the Southern African Region with the highest number of Cholera cases after Malawi which has 36 081.
In the whole African region, 44 839 Cholera cases have been confirmed while 1 245 deaths have been recorded.
Health and Climate experts have warned that the situation in Mozambique and Malawi could worsen on the back of Tropical Cyclone Freddy which has heavily destroyed health and water infrastructure.
In Mozambique, Tropical Storm Freddy affected 44 000 people, damaged or destroyed 55 health facilities and damaged nearly 3500 km of road, according to preliminary assessments.