/ 2 December 2008

Zim cholera outbreak shows no sign of abating

A deadly cholera outbreak in Zimbabwe has killed nearly 500 people in the biggest outbreak recorded recently in the crisis-hit country, the World Health Organisation (WHO) said on Tuesday.

The WHO said in a report that the cholera outbreak is affecting most regions of the country with a fatality rate of up to 50% in some areas. It reported 473 deaths from 11 700 cases.

”Cholera outbreaks in Zimbabwe have occurred annually since 1998, but previous epidemics never reached today’s proportions. The last large outbreak was in 1992 with 3 000 cases recorded,” the WHO said in a report.

Zimbabwean rights groups estimate that up to 1 000 people have died from a disease that is preventable and treatable under normal conditions.

The water delivery system has broken down in Harare and other cities, forcing residents to drink from contaminated wells and streams.

Close to collapse
Meanwhile, Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) leader Morgan Tsvangirai said on Monday in Dakar, Senegal, that the situation in the country had reached disastrous proportions.

”The country is reaching a catastrophic level, in terms of food, health delivery, education. Everything seems to be collapsing around us,” he told reporters during a visit to Senegal.

The leader’s comments came as Zimbabwe cut water supplies to the capital Harare on Monday in an apparent effort to curb the cholera epidemic.

”Our health system cannot cope with such a crisis,” he said.

The MDC has urged Mugabe’s government to accept large-scale humanitarian relief to cope with the epidemic.

”The humanitarian crisis and the political crisis are [two] sides of the same coin,” he said.

The cholera outbreak adds another burden for the Southern African country whose economy is in shambles, with inflation peaking over 213-million percent in July and with eight in 10 Zimbabweans unemployed.

The United Nations estimates that roughly half the population will need food assistance by January.

Tsvangirai defeated Mugabe in a first-round presidential vote in March, when the MDC won a majority in Parliament for the first time.

But he pulled out of a run-off, accusing Mugabe’s party of coordinating deadly attacks against his supporters.

Tsvangirai and Mugabe since signed a unity accord, but they remain at odds over how to divide power among their parties. – Reuters, AFP