Cholera lays bare Zimbabwe's collapse

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Zimbabwe's humanitarian crisis

By Karen Allen BBC News, Zimbabwe

No one shakes hands anymore in Zimbabwe, such is the fear of contracting cholera.

The country that was once the jewel in Africa's crown, able to feed itself, heal its sick and educate its people to the highest standards on the continent, is now in a pitiful state.

Harare's main hospitals are closed, doctors and nurses are striking over their meagre "Zim dollar" pay and the country's water and sanitation services are tearing at the seams.

Manhole covers in the streets haemorrhage water because underground pipes have burst.

For many Zimbabweans, shallow wells with filthy water are the only means of quenching their thirst, despite the high risk of becoming ill. The cholera crisis which has already claimed nearly 1,000 lives, is the most potent symbol yet of Zimbabwe's collapse.

A deadly cocktail of failed services has turned a treatable disease into a major public health threat.

Nine out of Zimbabwe's 10 provinces have reported cases of cholera.

Eighteen thousand people have been infected so far, according to official figures, but that could just be the tip of the iceberg, with the World Health Organization warning that infections could treble.

Persistent neglect

It is the most vulnerable that are falling prey to the disease.

We found Cynthia Hunde laying tributes on her son's grave.

Munashe died of cholera just weeks before his first birthday.

The sad irony of this little boy's story is that his mother had gone to South Africa to find work to offer him a better life.

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But when she returned to Zimbabwe she found him dying in the arms of his grandmother.

"I feel so bad