For those of you who attended the AIDS banquet on Friday, I thought I would post a couple of articles to the cholera situation in Zimbabwe that Ms. Berk talked about.
As you might know, Zimbabwe has been experienced some serious unrest for the last twenty years or so. Robert Mugabe, the current president, is a corrupt dictatorial man who refuses to give up his position, despite the run-off elections against him earlier this year. In fact, during the elections, he rounded up people from the opposition, imprisoned them, had them beaten, and despite all of that, they still won. Not satisfied, he set himself back into that position, and refused to acknowledge the new cabinet. The United Nations has come out with a statement condemning his refusal to step down, but being who he is, he has been unaffected.
He has arguably single-handedly destroyed Zimbabwe's economy, health, and social cohesion, and drove the country into unprecedented chaos. He has violently opposed homosexuality, took land from the white minority, and advocated, for all intents and purposes, torture to his opponents.
The cholera crisis, however, is probably one of the worst events that the country has seen in recent years. Because of the severe poverty that has plagued Zimbabwe, the lack of access to clean and safe water, and lack of infrastructure, a disease outbreak can essentially bring the country to its knees. Which is exactly what happened a few months ago. Two of the main hospitals in Harare, the capital, closed because of lack of resources, along many of the local smaller clinics throughout the country.
Although cholera outbreaks are not new in many poverty-stricken areas, the toll it has taken on the country has been utterly devastating. In the last month, people have reported raw sewage running down the streets, the water sources have been shut off because the main sanitation company says it ran out of money for purification. Many highly populated areas of the capital have been without adequate water or sanitation for months now. To make matters worse, people who want to leave cannot access their money in the banks because of lack of cash currency, so they can't even leave their country or buy medicine.
The incoming rainy season has definitely made matters worse, as rain is washing the bacteria into shallow wells, where people dig for water, further spreading the contamination. Over 600 people have died so far, and many more are at risk. Dehydrated cholera victims are unable to receive adequate rehydration, especially when they leave hospitals. A doctor in Harare has said:
"To me nothing can explain this better, it's genocide, simple.
"Patients are dying needlessly; drugs are not there; prescription papers are hard to get, tubes for blood collection are difficult to come by; food for patients isn't available; surgical operations for patients have been stopped and doctors are only attending to emergencies.
“There are no more patients inside the wards, just empty beds.”
At the country's major referral hospital, Parirenyatwa, there are no more surgical operations.
"The two theatres have been closed, even the one for caesarean operations," he says.
"Everyone is being referred to private clinics, and if you don't have money, you die."(Source: BBC Online)
Mugabe has asked for international aid to help deal with this crisis. However, because he has alienated the world over, leaders are refusing to help if he does not agree to step down.
The UNICEF is predicting a jump to over 60,000 cases in the upcoming months, due to Zimbabweans' already vulnerable health and immunity due to the high rates of HIV/AIDS, poverty, and other diseases in the country.
All images (c) the BBC 2008
You can learn more about Cholera at Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cholera
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