Zimbabwe's capital could be in the throes of a full-blown cholera epidemic within days. As political leaders fight a cat-and-mouse political game, Harare's townships resemble war zones as scores perish from cholera.
Medical authorities fear the disease could engulf the capital within days. The government is trying to hide the truth, but it is believed that more than 250 people have died so far.
The spread of the disease has been hastened by the country's economic implosion. Township dwellers have not had running tap water in more than two years. There are no chemicals to purify water. Sewer lines are in a state of disrepair, and raw sewage flows across Harare township streets.
President Robert Mugabe's ruling Zanu-PF politburo was stunned by a report this week on the spread of the disease. Details of the report are a closely guarded secret, but it's believed at least 10 people are dying of cholera every day.
A doctor at a Harare hospital described the pandemic as "a disaster of unimaginable proportions".
"People are dying like rats, yet propagandists in the government are claiming that only 25 people have died. Patients come here every day, and some of them die without receiving treatment because we don't have even basic supplies like gloves.
"Patients are being referred to Beatrice Infectious Diseases Hospital but hospital staff there have been overwhelmed, to the extent that patients are sleeping outside on verandas, under trees and everywhere else they might be able to get attention.
"It's a real scandal that people are dying of an avoidable and treatable disease like cholera," said the doctor, who cannot be named as he is not allowed to speak to the press.
Lovemore Munyaka, who had visited a sick relative at Beatrice hospital, described the scenes at the institution as scandalous. "Every time you come here you see relatives coming out of this hospital crying because they will have lost a relative. At times it looks fictitious because people are dying outside the hospital, on verandas, and in queues waiting to be attended to.
"Whole families are being wiped out. People without the disease are not being allowed in because they say it is highly contagious.
"What makes the situation worse is that patients are being forced to buy their own drips, syringes and gloves. They also have to buy their own medication," said Munyaka.
On Wednesday, the government newspaper, The Herald carried a picture of a truck carrying dead bodies for mass burial.
Health Minister David Parirenyatwa refused to speak to the Saturday Star on Friday.
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