Over the last year, Zimbabwe has been in the news for all the wrong reasons. In a special eight-page supplement this week, Metro Éireann gives an exclusive insight on the country’s desperate economic and humanitarian situation. In particular, we highlight the plight of the ordinary Zimbabweans who are living lives that can barely been imagined.
Words alone are not enough to describe the suffering they face everyday. The recent cholera epidemic and the increasing number of victims and cases are evidence that the country’s healthcare system has collapsed. News reports this week state that the epidemic has spread from townships to rural areas, and will now be almost impossible to contain. Over 3,000 people have now died as result, while the World Health Organisation estimates that almost 50,000 have been affected.
Sadly, with no plan of action by the country’s dictator, many more people are expected to die in the coming weeks. The rainy season in the country has prompted aid agencies to warn that many more sources of water could be contaminated, leading to even greater numbers of infections.
Yet President Robert Mugabe remains unconcerned. As the opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai has repeatedly said, this cholera crisis is man-made by President Mugabe, who has overseen the total collapse of the country’s infrastructures, especially in health, water and sanitation.
But it is not too late to combat the epidemic. The international community, and especially Zimbabwe’s neighbours, should put pressure on President Mugabe to end the suffering of his people by forming an inclusive government and instituting urgent wide-ranging national reforms. We believe that this is the only way of reviving the country and ultimately saving lives.
editor@metroeireann.com
