UN report: Zimbabwe's cholera epidemic still rampant
Xinhua, December 24, 2008
The worst cholera epidemic ever recorded in Zimbabwe is still not under control after infecting nearly 24,000 people, the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) reported Tuesday.
The disease now has spread to all provinces in the southern African country and caused some 1,200 deaths.
Staffing issue at cholera treatment centers in the country is serious as many medics are not paid with salaries therefore do not go to work, UNICEF Country Representative Roeland Monasch said in Harare, the country's capital.
Half the cholera cases are reported in Harare, and only a handful of professionals are staffing clinics where dozens more are needed.
UNICEF is providing the country with 700,000 liters of clean water a day, even digging boreholes in urban areas. It is also distributing 4,000 tons of water treatment chemicals for urban areas to fight the disease.
Cholera is caused by contaminated food or water and can lead quickly to severe dehydration and death if treatment is not promptly given.
The first ever UNICEF airlift of critical emergency supplies to Zimbabwe has brought in intravenous fluids, drip equipment, essential drugs, midwifery and obstetric kits to boost the agency's cholera response and help the government to deliver some essential health services to expecting mothers.
Earlier on Monday, four independent U.N. human rights experts called on the Zimbabwean government and the international community to do more to rebuild the country's health system, end the cholera epidemic and ensure adequate food supply for all people.
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