Published 25 November 2008, doi:10.1136/bmj.a2710
Cite this as: BMJ 2008;337:a2710

News

Zimbabwe faces a "major health disaster," as hospitals close

Ryan Truscott

1 Harare

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

Zimbabwe’s health minister, David Parirenyatwa, has admitted that he is "scared" by the cholera epidemic in the country, which has killed more than 290 people since September.

Last week the World Health Organization said that more than 6000 people had been infected in the outbreak.

The highly contagious diarrhoeal disease has now spread to nine of Zimbabwe’s 10 provinces.

Médecins Sans Frontières said that if left unchecked, cholera could threaten the lives of 1.4 million people in Harare.

Mr Parirenyatwa told the local press that the widespread unavailability of clean piped water meant that it is impossible to control the cholera outbreak. "As the minister responsible for health, I am very scared, especially during this rainy season," he said. Uncollected rubbish and frequent bursts in sewer pipes in many townships are also fostering the spread of the disease.

The outbreak comes at the worst possible time for inflation battered Zimbabwe, . . . [Full text of this article]


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