In Zimbabwe, nearly 2,000 people have now died from cholera. The disease has infected 40,000 people. This would mean that Zimbabwe's cholera mortality rate is currently at 5% (2,000 killed divided by 40,000 infected). This percentage is five times higher than the global average for cholera epidemics, reflecting the total breakdown in Zimbabwe's healthcare system.




Zimbabweans Face Growing Woes Amid New Crackdowns - WSJ, 1/13/09

From the article:
"State services have collapsed. A cholera epidemic has claimed 1,937 people since October, according to the World Health Organization. Most district hospitals and clinics, especially in rural areas, have been closed since the beginning of January, because they have no drugs, materials, or means to pay their staff. Mothers struggle to deliver their babies. HIV/AIDS patients eat medicinal herbs dug from the ground.

'The whole country is turning into some kind of giant mortuary,' said Douglas Gwatidza, head of the Zimbabwe Doctors for Human Rights."


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