HARARE, Zimbabwe (AP) – Zimbabwe’s new government is battling criticism over a cholera outbreak that has killed at least 25 people.
A crowdfunding initiative by the finance minister amid reports of government spending on new vehicles for Cabinet members has only swelled public anger.
Some local non-governmental organizations are blaming the government for the deaths in an outbreak that is spreading beyond the capital and raising fears of a repeat of the 2008 epidemic that killed over 4,000 people.
Zimbabwe Health Minister Obadiah Moyo washes his hands before entering a cholera quarantine area in Harare, Friday, Sept. 14, 2018, after a cholera emergency was declared in Zimbabwe’s capital following the deaths of more than 20 people. The deaths in Harare have many fearing a repeat of the outbreak that killed thousands in 2008.(AP Photo/Tsvangirayi Mukwazhi)
The government says it is committed to ending the outbreak, and Health Minister Obadiah Moyo says it is not time “for a blame game.”
United Nations agencies such as the World Health Organization say they have intervened to assist the southern African country whose economy collapsed under former leader Robert Mugabe, who resigned in November.
A health worker screens mothers and their children for possible symptoms of cholera in a quarantine area in Harare, Friday, Sept, 14, 2018, after a cholera emergency was declared following the deaths of more than 20 people. The deaths in Harare have many fearing a repeat of the outbreak that killed thousands in 2008.(AP Photo/Tsvangirayi Mukwazhi)
Mothers and their babies suspected to have cholera wait to be screened in a quarantine area in Harare, Friday, Sept, 14, 2018, after a cholera emergency was declared following the deaths of more than 20 people. The deaths in Harare have many fearing a repeat of the outbreak that killed thousands in 2008.(AP Photo/Tsvangirayi Mukwazhi)
Source: Associated Press
