Zimbabwe cholera deaths surge to 2,755
Zimbabwe’s cholera death toll has soared to 2,755. The World Health Organisation said today it now suspects 48,623 people are infected.
The figures show a sharp rise in deaths and new infections from statistics published earlier today and represent a 20% rise in the death toll during the past week.
Zimbabwean authorities have declared the outbreak a national emergency. SOS Children has three Children's Villages in the country and is working directly with families and communities to empower them to effectively protect and care for their children.
The intestinal disease is caused by bacteria in untreated water. It is easily treatable, but the collapse of the country's health and sanitation systems as it faces astronomical inflation rates, has worsened the crisis. Most hospitals can no longer provide even basic medicines. They are also critically short-staffed. Soon after the epidemic took hold in August, medics went on strike demanding ancient equipment be replaced and medicines be available in hospitals.
Erratic water supplies, shortages of water purification tablets, broken sewer pipes and uncollected rubbish, none of which the astronomical inflation rate, have further aggravated the problem. The rainy season could lead to even more infections, as water sources become contaminated, aid workers warned. Meanwhile the BBC reported the problem is now spreading into rural areas beyond the reach of health workers.
Cholera cases have been reported in all 10 of Zimbabwe's provinces the WHO says. However it is by no means the only public health issue the country is grappling with. There are an estimated 400 HIV/Aids related deaths a day. Maternal mortality has also risen from 168 per 100,000 in 1990 to 1,100 in 2005.
The official inflation rate is more than 100,000 per cent - the highest in the world. Eighty per cent of the population lives on less than $1 a day. As a result Zimbabwe is facing a humanitarian crisis of massive proportions.
SOS Children has started community outreach programmes and medical centres which specialise in providing care for children and their families across Zimbabwe. SOS Children provides clothes, food, school fees, medical treatment, housing improvements and counselling, to more than 5000 children a year in Zimbabwe.
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