Zimbabwe

UNICEF announced a USD 5 million donation for Zimbabwe's besieged health sector to help it battle an out-of-control cholera epidemic and the effects of collapsing health services. The death toll in the cholera outbreak has now topped 2,000, with over half the estimated 40,000 diagnosed cases in Harare. "The cholera outbreak is the tip of the iceberg," said UNICEF Executive Director Ann M. Veneman while visiting Zimbabwe last week. Zimbabwe's defunct health system and the growing humanitarian crisis have had a devastating impact on the lives of children, particularly those who are orphaned or vulnerable, and UN officials have warned that child mortality rates will continue to rise. (UN News Service, IRIN)