- Fatalities in Zimbabwe's Cholera epidemic have dropped, even though new cases are still being identified, according to latest UN reports.
Zimbabwe’s widespread cholera epidemic has now claimed over 4,000 lives since August, and almost 90,000 people have contracted the deadly disease.
Some 2,151 new cases of cholera were identified last week, down from 8,000 per week at the at the start of the year, noted the joint UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) and World Health Organization (WHO) report.
The latest report has calculated the total number of people who have contracted the disease at 89,018 and 4,011 dead.
However, the fatality rate in treatment centres has fallen to 1.8 percent, a significant reduction from previous figures which exceeded 4 percent, the report said, adding that the drop in the death rate is a result of improved monitoring and response mechanisms instituted by the Ministry of Health in conjunction with international partners.
According to UN agency reports over 90 percent of Zimbabwe’s 62 districts are infected with the water-borne disease and more than 60 percent of deaths occur in rural areas where limited or no treatment is reaching the local population.
The report said humanitarian agencies are focusing on improving outreach to these rural areas in support of Government efforts.
afrol News - It is called "financial inclusion", and it is a key government policy in Rwanda. The goal is that, by 2020, 90 percent of the population is to have and actively use bank accounts. And in only four years, financial inclusion has doubled in Rwanda.
afrol News - The UN's humanitarian agencies now warn about a devastating famine in Sudan and especially in South Sudan, where the situation is said to be "imploding". Relief officials are appealing to donors to urgently fund life-saving activities in the two countries.
afrol News - Fear is spreading all over West Africa after the health ministry in Guinea confirmed the first Ebola outbreak in this part of Africa. According to official numbers, at least 86 are infected and 59 are dead as a result of this very contagious disease.
afrol News - It is already a crime being homosexual in Ethiopia, but parliament is now making sure the anti-gay laws will be applied in practical life. No pardoning of gays will be allowed in future, but activist fear this only is a signal of further repression being prepared.
afrol News / Africa Renewal - Ethiopia's ambitious plan to build a US$ 4.2 billion dam in the Benishangul-Gumuz region, 40 km from its border with Sudan, is expected to provide 6,000 megawatts of electricity, enough for its population plus some excess it can sell to neighbouring countries.
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