Cholera outbreak declared national emergency in Zimbabwe: Herald
4/12/2008 16:26
The Zimbabwe government has declared the recent outbreak of cholera in the
country as national emergencies and called on the donor community to provide aid
in fighting the disease, the state media Herald reported today.
It was
declared by the Zimbabwe government yesterday, the Herald said.
According to
the figures by the Zimbabwe government, the outbreak of cholera has so far
killed 563 people and caused the malfunctioning of central
hospitals.
Zimbabwe Minister of Health and Child Welfare David Parirenyatwa
said yesterday that there is a critical shortage of resources in the health
sector, according to the Herald.
The minister made the remarks at a meeting
of stakeholders to mobilize resources for fighting cholera which was held in the
capital.
Parirenyatwa pointed out that the hospitals are in urgent need of
drugs, food and equipment.
"Our central hospitals are literally not
functioning. Our staff is demotivated and we need your support to ensure that
they start coming to work and our health system is revived," Parirenyatwa
said.
The Herald quoted the minister as saying that among the items urgently
required by hospitals are medicines, laboratory reagents, renal and laundry
equipment, X-ray films and boilers.
The minister also said renal patients
require dialysis.
Xinhua
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