An official of the United Nations Children's Fund said Wednesday that the agency is stepping up its effort to provide clean water to Zimbabweans to consolidate gains against the cholera epidemic that has claimed more than 4,000 lives over the past eight months.
UNICEF Spokeswoman Tsitsi Singizi said her agency placed 60 new water boreholes under the control of municipal authorities in Harare this week and would continue to supply the municipal water system with essential water purification chemicals.
The World Health Organization recently said new cholera cases are trending down on a weekly basis - though hundreds of fresh infections and more deaths are reported in daily updates.
Singizi told reporter Patience Rusere of VOA's Studio 7 for Zimbabwe that UNICEF is pursuing a three-pronged strategy consisting of close surveillance of new infection patterns, measures for prevention of new infections, and a rapid response to treat cholera victims.
