December 3, 2008 4:59 AM
- Text
Cholera Outbreak Ravages Zimbabwe
A diplomat in Harare tells CBS News' Sarah Carter that close to 3,000 people have died of cholera in Zimbabwe so far, and that Zimbabweans are talking about the total collapse of their country.
Carter, reporting from Johannesburg, South Africa, spoke to doctors in Zimbabwe who claim all of the country's main hospitals have closed, making it impossible to accurately tally the number of people affected by the epidemic.
CBS News' partner network Sky News filmed pictures of body bags piling up in a hospital bathroom as health officials struggle to contain the crisis.
Water was cut off to much of Harare over the weekend. Tsungirai Shoriwa, a spokesman for the Zimbabwe National Water Authority, told the state-controlled daily Herald that ZINWA was forced to stop pumping water to the city's 2 million residents when purification chemicals ran out.
Human Rights groups put the death toll at just over 1,000 since August. Last week, The World Health Organization said a lack of clean drinking water and adequate toilets were the main triggers for the cholera epidemic.
With the lack of water in Harare, the capital city, many residents say they know they're drinking from contaminated wells and streams, but thirst leaves them no choice. The collapse of all services, including garbage collection, has experts fearing outbreaks of other deadly diseases.
Health Minister David Parirenyatwa told Zimbabwe's state-controlled Sunday Mail newspaper his concerns.
"What I am afraid of is that now that the rain season has come, all feces lying in the bushes will be washed into shallow wells and contaminate the water. Management of water and sanitation is primary to the cholera problem," Parirenyatwa said.
His advice to Zimbabweans was to stop shaking hands. State radio was broadcasting appeals for people to boil water where possible.
Across the boarder, South African officials say the Limpopo River has tested positive for cholera. Residents of Musina, on the South African side of the boarder, say they fear for their lives. Seven people have died in South Africa from the epidemic so far.
After 18 years as president, critics charge Robert Mugabe with ruining one of Africa's most promising economies through corruption and gross mismanagement. Mugabe has hit back, claiming Western sanctions were responsible for the failing health system and crumbling economy.
Zimbabwe now has the world's highest rate of inflation, last estimated at 231 million percent in July, and an unemployment rate which stands at more than 90 percent.
Morgan Tsvangirai, leader of the Movement for Democratic Change opposition party, says talks on a unity government will resume in two weeks. A Sept. 15 power-sharing deal between Mugabe and Tsvangirai offered the best hope of ending the crisis, but it has been held up by disputes over key government posts.
Meanwhile, there was a heavy police presence in downtown Harare Wednesday as members of a Zimbabwean trade union staged a "peaceful" protest march over their inability to withdraw their own money from banks. Eyewitnesses at the march said police were hitting protestors with batons. No arrests have reported, yet.
Carter, reporting from Johannesburg, South Africa, spoke to doctors in Zimbabwe who claim all of the country's main hospitals have closed, making it impossible to accurately tally the number of people affected by the epidemic.
CBS News' partner network Sky News filmed pictures of body bags piling up in a hospital bathroom as health officials struggle to contain the crisis.
Water was cut off to much of Harare over the weekend. Tsungirai Shoriwa, a spokesman for the Zimbabwe National Water Authority, told the state-controlled daily Herald that ZINWA was forced to stop pumping water to the city's 2 million residents when purification chemicals ran out.
Human Rights groups put the death toll at just over 1,000 since August. Last week, The World Health Organization said a lack of clean drinking water and adequate toilets were the main triggers for the cholera epidemic.
With the lack of water in Harare, the capital city, many residents say they know they're drinking from contaminated wells and streams, but thirst leaves them no choice. The collapse of all services, including garbage collection, has experts fearing outbreaks of other deadly diseases.
Health Minister David Parirenyatwa told Zimbabwe's state-controlled Sunday Mail newspaper his concerns.
"What I am afraid of is that now that the rain season has come, all feces lying in the bushes will be washed into shallow wells and contaminate the water. Management of water and sanitation is primary to the cholera problem," Parirenyatwa said.
His advice to Zimbabweans was to stop shaking hands. State radio was broadcasting appeals for people to boil water where possible.
Across the boarder, South African officials say the Limpopo River has tested positive for cholera. Residents of Musina, on the South African side of the boarder, say they fear for their lives. Seven people have died in South Africa from the epidemic so far.
After 18 years as president, critics charge Robert Mugabe with ruining one of Africa's most promising economies through corruption and gross mismanagement. Mugabe has hit back, claiming Western sanctions were responsible for the failing health system and crumbling economy.
Zimbabwe now has the world's highest rate of inflation, last estimated at 231 million percent in July, and an unemployment rate which stands at more than 90 percent.
Morgan Tsvangirai, leader of the Movement for Democratic Change opposition party, says talks on a unity government will resume in two weeks. A Sept. 15 power-sharing deal between Mugabe and Tsvangirai offered the best hope of ending the crisis, but it has been held up by disputes over key government posts.
Meanwhile, there was a heavy police presence in downtown Harare Wednesday as members of a Zimbabwean trade union staged a "peaceful" protest march over their inability to withdraw their own money from banks. Eyewitnesses at the march said police were hitting protestors with batons. No arrests have reported, yet.
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Tucker Reals Tucker Reals is a senior news editor and overnight site editor for CBSNews.com, based at CBS News' London bureau.
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