Decaying road infrastructure in Binga district, in Zimbabwe's province of Matabeleland North, prevented anti-malaria spraying teams from reaching the area, and is being blamed for an outbreak of the mosquito-borne disease. Health officials told IRIN that hospitals and clinics in the remote and humid district in the Zambezi valley on the border with Zambia, have recorded 90 percent of the province's malaria cases this year: 4,500 cases in the past four months, resulting in 14 fatalities. Zimbabwe's economic malaise has put off upgrading or maintenance of much of its existing road infrastructure, while flooding rivers have limited the ability of health ministry teams to carry out preventative spraying of dwellings and mosquito breeding grounds, such as stagnant water, particularly in rural areas. "At one time I spent four hours waiting for the river to subside from a low bridge before we were able to get to the other side," said acting provincial medical director Dr Paul Hazangue after a recent visit to the area. "We received more malaria cases from Binga largely due to intermittent rains experienced in that district - mosquitoes breed and mature faster in such weather conditions." Hazangue said the Ministry of Health and Child Welfare had set up malaria management courses for nurses at rural clinics, and had established satellite clinics in the districts of Lupane, Hwange, Tsholotsho and Nkayi.
http://globalpolicy.org/component/content/article/211-development/49064-zimbabwe-bad-roads-lead-to-malaria-outbreak-.html
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