Cholera remains a threat in Zimbabwe,despite a drop in the infection rate in recent months. So says a new reportfrom the International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies. Inthe coming months, the 100 thousandth case of cholera in Zimbabwe is expected tobe officially reported. Nearly 4,300 people have died in the outbreak thatbegan last year.
IFRCHead of Media Paul Conneally, in Geneva, describes the main thrust of thereport as "the fact that cholera has not receded in Zimbabwe?. And whileZimbabwe may have faded from the news headlines over the last few months, thatis not the same case with cholera."
"Theinfection has dropped slightly from what was over six-percent at the height ofthe crisis to some four-and-a-half-percent today. This is a very, very highrate of infection in any population and is the reason why this is the worstcrisis of cholera that we've seen in Africa in more than 15 years," he says.
TheIFRC is calling for mid- and long-term investment to stave off the fundamentalcauses of the outbreak.
Thereport says, "The eradication of cholera in Zimbabwe or the complete conclusionto this current epidemic is unlikely unless the underlying causes of the healthcrises are addressed."
Asfor the causes, Conneally says, "One of the more important ones is that whilecholera is a severe humanitarian issue in Zimbabwe, per capita, the country isthe most dependent on food aid."
TheWorld Food Program estimates up to seven million Zimbabweans may need foodassistance out of a population of about 13 million.
"Thenthere is the very high prevalence of over 15 percent of the population of HIVand AIDS. There is evidence to show that Zimbabwe's once successfulanti-retroviral (drug) rollout has begun to regress. And then, of course,there's the maybe better-known issue of hyperinflation," he says.
Addingto those problems is the deterioration of Zimbabwe's water and sanitationinfrastructure.
Conneallysays thousands of Red Cross volunteers, especially in the rural areas, havehelped deal with the cholera outbreak. But he says resources to continue theeffort are in short supply.
"Weare 50 percent under-funded for our appeal and we do need the donor communityaddressing the situation more seriously than has been the case to date," hesays.
TheIFRC says funding shortages forced the organization to reduce operations in Zimbabwein February.
Conneally says, "This is not asituation that any humanitarian organization wants to be in. However, theresilience of the Zimbabwean people and the skills and the dedication of theZimbabwean Red Cross will pull us through to a certain extent. But we needresources to properly do the job."