Emergency assistance to support efforts to control and avert the 2018 cholera outbreak

Start & End Date: 2018-2019

Country/Countries: Zimbabwe

Multilateral Institution(s) Involved: African Development Bank, World Health Organization

Cholera is an acute intestinal infection caused by ingestion of food or water contaminated with the bacterium Vibrio cholerae. It has a short incubation period and produces an enterotoxin that causes a copious, painless, watery diarrhoea that can quickly lead to severe dehydration and death if treatment is not promptly given. Cholera remains a challenge in countries where access to safe drinking water and sanitation is not adequate. In 2018, a cholera outbreak occured in Zimbabwe. As of 26 October, 2018, a cumulative total of 9,554 suspected cholera cases had been reported, of which 256 had been confirmed in laboratory. A total of 55 of the reported cases had died (case fatality ratio 0.56%). Indeed, the outbreak of cholera in Zimbabwe is a threat not only to the country but also to the Southern African Sub-region. The failure to control the outbreak also has immense public health consequences for the Southern African region, as cases originating from Zimbabwe, have since been reported in Zambia, Botswana, Mozambique and South Africa. The epidemic is likely to strain the already overstretched capacity of health services in neighbouring countries.

The support to Zimbabwe will complement assistance by the development partners to avert a national and regional social and economic catastrophe by making it possible to prevent further deaths from cholera as well as containing its spread beyond the current affected areas. Support will be directed to the Health Cluster for the roll out of the cholera response plan. The AFDB support will finance the activities below, drawn from the Health Cluster Cholera Response Plan that has been agreed upon by Government and Development Partners: 1) Procurement and distribution of emergency response equipment and supplies, including: Oral Rehydration Salts, chlorine, diarrheal disease kits, drugs, etc.; 2) Training of staff and volunteers in infection control. The total cost of the above-mentionedactivities is estimated at US$1,000,000.00 including management fees of the executing agency. The total duration of the emergency assistance will not exceed twelve months, which is inclusive of administration, reconciliation and reporting on the use of the funds.

The project is expected to benefit the Zimbabwean population as a whole. In particular, the cholera outbreak was controlled and the number of cholera deaths reduced.