Zimbabwe cholera death toll soars past 1,500
Posted: 29 December 2008 1734 hrs

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GENEVA : The cholera epidemic has claimed over 1,500 lives in Zimbabwe since August, the World Health Organization said on Monday.

Some 1,564 people have died from the disease while another 29,131 suspected cases have been reported, a spokesman from the WHO told AFP.

The last United Nations figures showed 1,174 deaths and 23,712 suspected cases, which means that nearly 400 more people have died in the past six days since then.

Capital Harare remains the worst-hit region, with 330 deaths and 9,916 suspected cases, said the WHO.

Earlier Monday, South Africa reversed a block on aid to Zimbabwe because of the worsening humanitarian crisis in the neighbouring country.

"We have now reviewed our earlier decision in view of the deteriorating humanitarian crisis in that country. We have now started sending the aid to Zimbabwe" through the Southern African Development Community (SADC), presidential spokesman Thabo Masebe told AFP.

Besides the epidemic, Zimbabwe is also desperately fighting hyper-inflation, severe food shortages and chronic political instability. - AFP/ms