SW Radio Africa (London)
Lance Guma
3 December 2008
The death toll from the cholera epidemic plaguing Zimbabwe continues to mount, despite Zimbabwe receiving help from some of the countries that Mugabe regards as his enemies.
On Tuesday the executive arm of the European Union - the European Commission - said it was providing 9 million euros to help Zimbabwe deal with the cholera outbreak. The UK based Save the Children group is also running an emergency appeal to help with the triple crisis of cholera, anthrax and the hunger facing Zimbabweans. The group, which has been working in Zimbabwe for 25 years, says the country is on the verge of the biggest anthrax outbreak since the one in 1979-80.
Save the Children are helping to vaccinate cows and are providing food and training to health workers. The United Nations Children Fund (UNICEF) and the International Red Cross are also mobilizing the shipment of medicines and other forms of relief into the country.
According to World Health Organization figures, 565 people have died of cholera and this represents 81 more deaths since Tuesday. But unofficial figures are already running into the thousands. This is because many families don't report the deaths of their loved ones and most people are dying at home, because of the collapse of the health system. One man who left Chiredzi to seek treatment in South Africa said their provincial hospital alone has recorded more than 362 deaths.
The official number of infected people is over 12,000. Oxfam has said this figure could in reality be more than 300,000. With most mortuaries out of service due to the breakdown of refrigeration units, there are reports of body bags piling up at hospital toilets. On Monday the authorities cut water supplies to Harare in the absence of water treatment chemicals, putting 2 million more at greater risk as residents desperately looked for water from newly dug wells.
When the cholera crisis initially broke out, Beitbridge hospital did not have any IV fluids or oral rehydration salts. Owing to the large numbers swamping the facility the hospital authorities made the decision to place patients, 'behind the buildings, on the dirt, so that body excretions could be absorbed into the ground. Sick people lying in the dust and under scorching heat all cried out for the life-saving drip.'
The two doctors from Doctors Without Borders who initially responded to the crisis gave horrendous accounts of their experiences while treating patients. An Argentinean doctor said she had never administered so many 'catheters' in one day in her life. 'There was a man lying next to one of the trolleys under the sun. By the time I got to him, he was in shock. We tried to get a vein, like, ten times, but then he started gasping and he died right there in front of our eyes,' she said. 54 people died in one week.
Doctors Without Borders, who provide free humanitarian and medical aid, brought in over 800 liters of life saving drips. Around 16 expatriates, comprising doctors, nurses and other support staff, have since been deployed to help in the town.
Meanwhile the crisis has slowly spilled over into the region with South Africa's health department conducting tests on the Limpopo River and declaring it to be infected with cholera. Reports say Zambian and South African border officials have set up screening camps, to ensure infected Zimbabweans do not enter their countries.
It is time the region woke up to the fact that urgent action is needed, if Zimbabwe is not to bring down the whole of Southern Africa.
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The Oligarks will gladly send in finance in exchage for Wankie, Zisco or any other asset, unfortunately the Chinese were there first and have taken or are trying to take all the prime assets. EU not so bright, they get insults for 9 million Euro's. The Chinese have a lot for building a house and now $500,000.
EU{hated by Mugabe and regime} donates $9 million euros and China {loved by mugabe and regime after they built him a $22 million dollar palace} donate a pitiful $500 thousand. What a joke China is and what has happened to help from Russia?