Post by Paddy by Grace on Dec 15, 2008 19:07:38 GMT -7
www.upi.com/Top_News/2008/12/15/UN_says_Zimbabwe_cholera_toll_near_1000/UPI-41521229386273/
UNITED NATIONS, Dec. 15 (UPI) -- Cholera has claimed nearly 1,000 lives in Zimbabwe, the United Nations said Monday in New York.
The international organization said in a news release the total number of suspected cases of the deadly disease in the African nation has reached 18,413, despite protestations by Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe that the epidemic had crested.
In a closed-door session of the U.N. Security Council, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon lamented that the Mugabe government hasn't done enough to address Zimbabwe's situation at the political, economic, human rights and humanitarian levels, calling it "a failure of leadership."
Not only has the cholera outbreak hit nine of Zimbabwe's 10 provinces, it also has spread to neighboring South Africa, Botswana and Mozambique.
Ban told the Security Council the lack of progress on the political front is accompanied by a "dramatic" deterioration in living conditions.
"The current cholera epidemic is only the most visible manifestation of a profound multisectoral crisis, encompassing food, agriculture, education, health, water, sanitation and HIV/AIDS," Ban said.
UNITED NATIONS, Dec. 15 (UPI) -- Cholera has claimed nearly 1,000 lives in Zimbabwe, the United Nations said Monday in New York.
The international organization said in a news release the total number of suspected cases of the deadly disease in the African nation has reached 18,413, despite protestations by Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe that the epidemic had crested.
In a closed-door session of the U.N. Security Council, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon lamented that the Mugabe government hasn't done enough to address Zimbabwe's situation at the political, economic, human rights and humanitarian levels, calling it "a failure of leadership."
Not only has the cholera outbreak hit nine of Zimbabwe's 10 provinces, it also has spread to neighboring South Africa, Botswana and Mozambique.
Ban told the Security Council the lack of progress on the political front is accompanied by a "dramatic" deterioration in living conditions.
"The current cholera epidemic is only the most visible manifestation of a profound multisectoral crisis, encompassing food, agriculture, education, health, water, sanitation and HIV/AIDS," Ban said.