| Submit your comments on this article |
| Africa Subsaharan |
| Harare street food vendors banned over typhoid, cholera fears |
| 2017-01-13 |
| [Deutsche Welle ] Vendors are a common sight on the streets of Harare. They sell all manner of goods including fruit, vegetables, fresh meat and fish. But the sale of perishable food on the streets is not being properly monitored, and officials say this is a threat to public health, encouraging the spread of diseases like typhoid. A total of 2,225 cases of typhoid and 9 deaths from the disease were recorded in 2016 and around three quarters of all cases were from Harare. In a response to the typhoid outbreak, Zimbabwe's Health Minister David Parirenyatwa has banned the sale of food on the streets of Harare. Parirenyatwa stressed the need for controls and their implementation. But vendors in Harare have reacted angrily to the ban on the sale of food, saying it is threatening their livelihood. Unemployment is high in Zimbabwe and many people are dependent on street vending in order to make ends meet. Ronald Mureverwi from the National Vendors Union Zimbabwe told DW the ban was a shocking move that could only have have come from an irresponsible government. Mbare, the Harare suburb hardest hit by the typhoid outbreak, is in a sorry state. There are piles of uncollected garbage and drainage is poor. Mbare is also home to Harare's biggest vegetable market. Harare council officials say the city is failing to provide services because some residents are not paying rates. Health Minister Parirenyatwa conceded that their biggest fear was cholera. "We can manage more or less with typhoid, but cholera will just be a nightmare for us." In 2008, cholera claimed at least 4,000 lives in Zimbabwe. It happened at the height of the country's economic crisis when most of the public hospitals were closed due to a shortage of medicines and the flight of health workers abroad. |
| Posted by:Pappy |
| #2 Lave sus manos |
| Posted by: Frank G 2017-01-13 14:46 |
| #1 De-civilization. |
| Posted by: Besoeker 2017-01-13 12:46 |