"Zimbabwe's cholera epidemic is picking up speed, with a total of 1,732 deaths out of 34,306 cases"

From The Hub, more bad news from Zimbabwe:

"UNICEF: The tragedy of Zimbabwe's cholera outbreak

By: Priscila Néri

Posted: Jan 6 09

Zimbabwe

HARARE, Zimbabwe, 19 December 2008 Deep grief is evident in Nigel Chigudu's eyes. In a tortured voice, he slowly recounts the harrowing tragedy that saw him lose five siblings in five hours to the cholera epidemic that has been sweeping across Zimbabwe.

"Zimbabwean children are already vulnerable, a quarter of them are orphaned, most have fewer meals than their peers across the globe," said UNICEF Representative in Zimbabwe Roeland Monasch. "These children now feel the severity of a national cholera crisis, which in some instances is robbing them of their lives. It is vital that we bring them life-saving interventions now."

As urgent relief, UNICEF has provided hundreds of thousands of water treatment tablets with a capacity to treat and purify water in more than 3 million households. It has also distributed thousands of oral rehydration salts, IV fluids and drips to treat diarrhoeal dehydration, as well as washing soap and buckets.

To read the full story, visit: http://www.unicef.org/infobycountry/zimbabwe_46902.html"

And from Unicef:

"Nigel's Story: The tragedy of Zimbabwe's cholera outbreak

© UNICEF Zimbabwe/2008/Myhren

Nigel Chigudu, 15, lost five siblings to cholera in one night. UNICEF has appealed for help to contain the epidemic that has been sweeping Zimbabwe.

By Tsitsi Singizi

HARARE, Zimbabwe, 19 December 2008 – Deep grief is evident in Nigel Chigudu's eyes. In a tortured voice, he slowly recounts the harrowing tragedy that saw him lose five siblings in five hours to the cholera epidemic that has been sweeping across Zimbabwe.

"They started vomiting and had serious diarrhoea," recalls Nigel, 15. "The youngest, Gamu, was 14 months old, and Lameck was 12 years old. It was in the middle of the night; I could not take them anywhere. I just watched them die.

"Two days later, my grandmother also passed away," he adds.

Cholera epicentre

Nigel lives in Budiriro Township, Harare, the epicentre of Zimbabwe's latest cholera outbreak. Across the road from his family's home, at a UNICEF-supported cholera treatment centre, a grieving mother collects the body of her two-year-old baby who has also succumbed.

These stories are not unique. They echo in the lives of an increasing number of people across Zimbabwe—the stark consequence of water outages, a failed sewer and sanitation system, and garbage piling up on the streets.

In Budiriro, burst sewage pipes have left puddles and a permanent stench while months of uncollected refuse litter the streets. Filthy conditions like these have prompted UNICEF to make an international appeal for help to control the epidemic, which is spread by contaminated water.

Disease spreading fast

Across Zimbabwe, in high-density urban areas such as Budiriro in Harare and Dulibadzimu in Beitbridge, cholera is spreading like wildfire. Nine out of Zimbabwe's 10 provinces have reported cases. More than 16,000 cases and almost 800 deaths have been reported since August.

"Zimbabwean children are already vulnerable, a quarter of them are orphaned, most have fewer meals than their peers across the globe," said UNICEF Representative in Zimbabwe Roeland Monasch. "These children now feel the severity of a national cholera crisis, which in some instances is robbing them of their lives. It is vital that we bring them life-saving interventions now."

As urgent relief, UNICEF has provided hundreds of thousands of water treatment tablets with a capacity to treat and purify water in more than 3 million households. It has also distributed thousands of oral rehydration salts, IV fluids and drips to treat diarrhoeal dehydration, as well as washing soap and buckets.

'A window of opportunity'

In addition, UNICEF is trucking safe drinking water and mounting community-based water tanks in cholera-affected communities. There is also a drive to intensify hygiene education and health promotion.

"The cholera outbreak is symptomatic of the general collapse of infrastructure and services," said Mr. Monasch, "Health and education sectors face immense challenges and require support."

To galvanize this critical support, UNICEF has embarked on a $17 million emergency programme for the next 120 days. This programme will fund medicines for 70 per cent of the population; scale up community-based therapeutic feeding; carry out outreach immunization services, and provide incentives for teachers and nurses to return to work.

"In the next four months, we have a window of opportunity to reverse the deterioration of the social services. We cannot afford to miss this chance," said Mr. Monasch. "However, we cannot do it alone; we need support in raising the funds required for this response."

Today from Reuters:

"Zimbabwe cholera death toll tops 1,700 - WHO

06 Jan 2009 13:07:43 GMT

Source: Reuters

(Adds UN agency comments) GENEVA, Jan 6 (Reuters) - Zimbabwe's cholera epidemic is picking up speed, with a total of 1,732 deaths out of 34,306 cases, the World Health Organisation (WHO) said on Tuesday. A cholera update dated Jan. 5 showed a further 59 deaths and 731 new cases, up from 32 deaths and 379 fresh cases reported the previous day, it said. The epidemic is adding to the humanitarian crisis in the country, where President Robert Mugabe and the opposition are deadlocked over a power-sharing deal and the veteran leader is resisting Western calls to step down. The waterborne disease, which causes severe diarrhoea and dehydration, has spread to all of Zimbabwe's 10 provinces because of the collapse of health and sanitation systems. On Monday Health Minister David Parirenyatwa said the epidemic could get worse as the rainy season develops. The rainy season peaks in January or February and ends in late March. Floods, which can affect Zimbabwe's low-lying areas, may increase the spreading of the disease. "Social service delivery is collapsing, notably education, health and water supply infrastructure," said the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA). It said the U.N.'s World Food Programme (WFP) planned to help feed 4.5 million people a month until March when the main cereal harvest is due to start, while the Consortium for Southern Africa Food Security Emergency (C-SAFE) would handle another 1.8 million over the same period. "WFP and C-SAFE pipelines combined will assist more than 50 percent of the population of Zimbabwe with food," OCHA said. (For more information on humanitarian crises and issues visit www.alertnet.org) (Reporting by Jonathan Lynn; Editing by Matthew Tostevin)"

"If convicted they could face the death penalty."

Mugabe has been using this same tactic of arresting the opposition for years. When will it end? From the FT:

"Zimbabwe activists to stay in jail

By Tony Hawkins in Harare

Published: December 31 2008 10:23 | Last updated: December 31 2008 10:23

In a decision which could put an end to months of on-off negotiations to establish a coalition government in Zimbabwe, a magistrate on Wednesday ruled that 16 human rights campaigners and opposition supporters must remain in custody pending a Supreme Court hearing of their case.

Prominent human rights campaigner Jestina Mukoko and 15 others are charged with recruiting people to undergo military training in Botswana with the aim of toppling President Robert Mugabe’s government. If convicted they could face the death penalty.( THIS HAPPENS EVERY ELECTION )

EDITOR’S CHOICE

News in depth: Zimbabwe - May-15

Western calls have little impact on Zimbabwe - Dec-22

Last week a High Court judge ruled that the detainees be transferred to a hospital for medical treatment, but government lawyers are challenging his ruling and police have refused to obey the order to take the prisoners to hospital.

The police were supported on Wednesday when at a brief hearing in Harare magistrate Mishrod Guvamombe said “This matter remains to be decided in the Supreme Court and the accused cannot be released.” Two other activists facing lesser charges were freed.

The decision could have far-reaching political consequences because three weeks ago opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai gave an ultimatum that he would break off coalition talks with President Robert Mugabe’s ruling Zanu-PF party if appropriate legal procedures were not followed by December 31.

Mr Tsvangirai’s Movement for Democratic Change is deeply divided over the issue of whether to participate in the unity government agreed in September.

In recent days party opinion appears to have hardened against the deal, largely because numerous actions by the Mugabe government cast doubt on its sincerity.

These include the abductions of more than 30 opposition supporters and human rights campaigners, only some of whom have been brought to court, the charging of five MDC officials on counts of terrorism and sabotage, including the head of the party’s security department and a senior adviser to Mr Tsvangirai, the re-appointment of the unpopular governor of the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe Gideon Gono, and the repeated use of the security forces against opposition and civil rights groups.

If he sticks to his word, Mr Tsvangirai will abandon the talks, but he is under intense pressure from the South African government( SHAMEFUL ), which is desperate for a deal that would leave Mr Mugabe in effective control.

The opposition leader also has a long record of flip-flopping on key issues, issuing numerous threats and ultimatums and then backing away from them.

Were the opposition to withdraw from the talks, President Mugabe has said he would call fresh elections which neither party wants and the outcome of which would not be recognised internationally.

Mr Tsvangirai, who has been out of the country for the last 10 weeks is understood to be considering returning, now that the Zimbabwe authorities have issued him a new passport, but there are serious concerns that he could be arrested, or worse, should he fly back to Harare.

He is under pressure also to agree to the deal because of the rapidly worsening humanitarian situation in Zimbabwe with the World Health Organisation estimating that 1608 people have does from the cholera epidemic afflicting the country. The WHO warned this week that the situation could get worse in the weeks ahead."

Mugabe really knows how to use the suffering of his country's citizens to keep himself in power. In essence, they're hostages.

"Do you know any for market-friendly charitable-giving groups, who give bed-nets or anything else? "

Greg Mankiw with an important post about giving:

"I doubted that I had enough knowledge about the topic to offer a good answer, so I passed the question on to my Harvard colleague, development economist Michael Kremer. Here is his reply:

Dear Greg,

Sure, I would be happy to make some recommendations.

If readers want to donate for nets, one good organization I have supported in the past is here. TamTam provides nets free at clinics. Personally I think this approach makes sense because charging dramatically reduces use, free distribution can help encourage mothers to come to antenatal clinics, and, like vaccines, insecticide treated nets can help interfere with disease transmission creating positive externalities. For some evidence on the first issue, see this paper.

One of the best buys out there is treating kids for worms. Two billion people have intestinal worms worldwide, including 400 million school-children. The medicine costs pennies per dose. Because the medicine is cheap and safe, but diagnosis is expensive, the World Health Organization recommends mass treatment in schools in areas of high prevalence, which can keep total costs per treated child to $0.25.

Treatment not only has medical benefits but helps kids stay in school longer. Ted Miguel and I estimate benefit/cost ratios of more than twenty to one in Kenya. Hoyt Bleakley estimates that the Rockefeller Foundation's deworming campaign in the US South in the early twentieth century added two years to average education in affected areas and that worms accounted for 20% of the income gap between the US North and South at the time.

Based on the evidence, several economists, including Esther Duflo, Kristin Forbes,and me, are involved in, and have donated to, a new group called Deworm the World. Information is available here. There is a donate button which explains how people can give.

Deworm the World will soon be a tax exempt 501(c)3 organization, but not before either the holidays or the end of the tax year. If readers are from the US and want a tax deduction, they can support Save the Children's school health efforts by clicking on the link above and going to the donate box, or if they want to more directly help Deworm the World, they can donate to Innovations for Poverty Action by going to this link and noting that the donation is for Deworm the World in the comment box.

Thanks for writing,
Michael

Thanks to Chris for asking the question and to Michael for answering it. I hope this information helps direct some charitable giving in the right direction."

Thanks to all three of them for the information and reminder.