HARARE – The World Health Organisation (WHO) and the Zimbabwe government have said a measles outbreak first announced last September has now spread to 48 districts in the country, in a country where the public health system remains fragile after years of economic recession and political turmoil.

According to the joint report by the WHO and Zimbabwe’s Health Ministry released on Wednesday, so far more than 200 people have died with most of the cases among members of religious groups that shunned conventional medical treatment.

"The number of districts with suspected measles outbreaks has risen by 9 to 48 districts," the report said, adding; “3 285 suspected cases and 200 deaths, of which 192 were community deaths were reported since the start of the outbreak in September 2009,” the report said.

United Nations agencies and the Zimbabwe government in March appealed for more than US$8 million to combat the measles outbreak they said had “reached crisis proportion” and was spinning out of control.

Zimbabwe’s health system was once one of the best in Africa but collapsed as a severe recession over the past decade meant the government was unable to build new hospitals or maintain existing ones, while poor salaries drove the best trained doctors and nurses abroad where pay and working conditions are better.

The measles outbreak comes barely 12 months after a cholera epidemic – described by the WHO as the worst in Africa in more than 15 years – claimed close to 5 000 lives as bankruptcy local authorities failed to supply clean drinking water to residents or provide garbage collection services.

The cholera epidemic was only brought under control after international aid agencies moved in with water treatment chemicals as well as medicines and health support staff to treat the disease.

Zimbabwe’s power-sharing government between President Robert Mugabe and Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai has promised to rebuild the economy and restore basic services such as water supplies, health and education. 

But the administration has found it hard to undertake any meaningful reconstruction work after failing to get financial support from rich Western nations that insist they want to see more political reforms before they can loosen the purse strings. – ZimOnline.