MAKOKOBA residents have blamed the squalid and overcrowded conditions they live in for fuelling the rapid spread of Tuberculosis (TB) in the teeming suburb and appealed to the Bulawayo City Council to decongest the suburb.
CHIEF REPORTER
Makokoba is Bulawayo’s oldest suburb and has been experiencing accommodation problems for decades. Council once mooted an expansion programme to accommodate the growing population in the suburb to no avail.
Makokoba resident Amos Ncube said in recent months many residents have been diagnosed with the communicable TB disease.
“Many residents have complained of having contracted TB and we suspect many people are catching the disease due to overcrowding. We appeal to council to make efforts of decongesting the township,” said Ncube.
Another resident Pretty Mutasa said council should constantly conduct health inspections to curb disease outbreaks.
TB is a disease that is spread from person to person through the air. It usually affects the lungs and germs are released into the air when a person with TB of the lung coughs, sneezes, laughs or sings. TB can also affect other parts of the body, such as the brain, kidneys or the spine.
Makokoba councillor James Sithole said although health inspectors were always on the lookout for diseases, the biggest concern remained around the accommodation challenges faced by residents.
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“I haven’t heard that TB is spreading in Makokoba, but the housing issue is not only a problem for the township. It is a national problem. Council is doing its best to provide housing, but there is a huge backlog. Makokoba was designed for a few people decades ago, but the rapid population growth has overwhelmed it,” said Sithole.
“Council health inspectors are also on the lookout for any disease outbreaks. If residents detect such a phenomenon, they should utilise our call centre so that the reaction teams are dispatched fast,” Sithole said.
TB remains a significant public health problem in Zimbabwe and is among the top five leading causes of adult morbidity and mortality while on the globe, the country is one of 22 high TB burden countries in the world.
According to the World Health Organisation (WHO) Global Tuberculosis Report 2013, the estimated prevalence of TB (all forms) in Zimbabwe in 2011 was 433 cases per 100 000 population.
The Global Health Initiative (2012) claims Zimbabwe has the second highest TB mortality in the world and the WHO 2012 report says it accounted for 6 000 deaths in the country in 2011.
