Zim cholera death toll surpasses 4 000 mark: WHO |
| Published: 17/03/2009 |
The death toll from Zimbabwe’s cholera epidemic has now surpassed the 4 000 mark, highlighting the need for the new unity government to take quick steps to reverse the country’s humanitarian and economic crisis. The World Health Organisation (WHO) that has led efforts to combat the epidemic said Monday that 4 035 people had died from cholera out of 91 000 infections since last August when the latest outbreak began. However, in an earlier cholera update last week the WHO said that the outbreak was for the first time showing signs of slowing down with the number of new cases averaging between 4 000 to 4 500 a week compared to peaks of nearly 8 000 earlier in the outbreak. But it urged aid agencies, the Harare authorities and others involved in the fight against cholera not to lower the guard, saying Zimbabwe was still in the middle of a “major health crisis”. The cholera epidemic that the WHO says is the worst outbreak of the disease in Africa in 15 years has highlighted the collapse of Zimbabwe’s once brilliant economy and infrastructure over the past decade and also seen in hyperinflation, food shortages, deepening poverty and rising joblessness. Zimbabwean Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai earlier this month said the figures of deaths from cholera were likely an underestimate, adding that massive resources were required to rehabilitate the country’s collapsed health infrastructure and to woo back skilled workers who left the country for better paying jobs abroad. Tsvangirai, who last month formed a power-sharing government with President Robert Mugabe to tackle Zimbabwe’s multi-faceted crisis, said it would be possible to revive the health sector to its former glory as one of the best in Africa only if the unity government implemented necessary reforms to stabilise the economy and the political environment. The unity government has been able to get teachers, doctors, nurses and all civil servants back to work as part of a drive to get Zimbabwe functioning again and on the road to recovery. Last month the government paid every civil servant US$100 living allowance, keeping a promise to reward public workers in hard cash, although teachers’ unions have threatened to call a fresh boycott if the allowance was not increased. Analysts say the unity government could fail to deliver on its promise to revive Zimbabwe and eventually collapse unless it is able to unlock vital financial support from Western nations that have remained reluctant to provide aid until they see evidence that Mugabe is committed to genuinely share power with Tsvangirai. Only Australia has lifted a long-standing ban on non-humanitarian aid to Zimbabwe, last week giving the southern African country’s new administration a $10 million direct financial assistance package. |
|
The ZI is a policy research
think tank dedicated...