Health officials concerned about water shortages in Dar es Salaam

Tanzanian government health officials on Monday expressed growing concern about the impact water shortages were having on people's health in the nation's commercial capital, Dar es Salaam. The lack of water is hampering health care providers' efforts to maintain normal services and has already led to an increase in the number of cases of cholera, health ministry officials told IRIN. "Cholera is on the increase because of the lack of availability of water and we are being affected as the health facilities are not able to perform as well as usual," Miriam Mwaffissi, permanent secretary in the ministry, said. The ministry noted that cholera outbreaks were common, but manageable, in Dar es Salaam. However, with the added burden of water shortages, there was growing concern that the outbreaks could become more difficult to control. Last week, Muhimbili National Hospital, the country's main referral hospital, was forced to scale down operations to deal with water shortages. Only emergency operations were carried out, as the hospital relied on emergency supplies from the fire-fighting department. Health Minister Anna Abdullah told IRIN that if there were prolonged water shortages, the city's residents should expect difficult times, because "with access to clean water, we can prevent half of the diseases that people suffer from". City Water, the new company that is in charge of operating and maintaining the Dar es Salaam water supply, said on Sunday that they were tackling the problems, which have been caused by dilapidated infrastructure and poor rains, but cautioned that they would not be solved overnight. The water shortage problem could only be partly resolved after the rusted and leaking pipes were replaced – a process that is due to begin early next year, Mike O'Leary, City Water chief executive officer, said. Meanwhile, The Guardian, a local Tanzanian paper, reported on Monday that in Same district, Tanga region, where rains had arrived, over 500 households were left without food and shelter after their houses and farms were swept away by floods over the weekend. [See related IRIN story, "Focus on impact of water reforms on Dar's poor"]