One in eight children in Zimbabwe will die before the age of five, the highest mortality rate in the world, according to figures published Friday by the United Nations Childrens Fund (UNICEF).
It said that child mortality had risen sharply in the country since 1990, when one in 12 children died. About 70 per cent of deaths were due to Aids.
Zimbabwe has the worlds fourth highest level of HIV/Aids – 24 per cent of the total population of 12 million is infected – but is getting very little international assistance to help overcome it, the UNICEF executive director, Carol Bellamy, said.
Speaking in Johannesburg, she appealed for increased aid to Zimbabwe, saying the world “must differentiate between the politics and the people” of the country.
She said: – Every day children in Zimbabwe are dying of HIV/Aids, every day children are becoming infected, orphaned and forced to leave school to care for sick parents. The global generosity towards tsunami victims was inspiring, but it has dried up for Zimbabwean children who are facing a deadly crisis every day.
Acknowledging that donors were reluctant to give significant funds to Zimbabwe, because of the allegations of corruption and state torture, she said: – Look for other ways to make a political point, but do not take it out on Zimbabwes children, they are the ones who are suffering.
In addition to the rising rate of child deaths, Zimbabwe has a million children – one in five – orphaned by Aids.
In 1990 it had one of Africas best healthcare systems. But in recent years the government has reduced the health and education budgets and channelled the funds to the army and its internal security network, the central intelligence organisation.
The big donors have declined to fund its healthcare programmes, in contrast to their generous funding of neighbouring countries. The three major Aids donors – the US, the World Bank and the Global Fund – have largely shunned Zimbabwe.
– In southern Africa, the area most affected by Aids, the average donor spending per HIV-infected person is 74 US dollar (414 DKR). In Zimbabwe the amount is just four dollar (22 DKR), Ms Bellamy said.
The collapse of Zimbabwes health was highlighted last week by Africa Fighting Malaria, which came to different conclusions.
Rather than calling for increased funds which the government might divert to political ends, it urged President Thabo Mbeki of South Africa and other regional leaders to encourage Mr Mugabe to reform.
It argued that Zimbabwes increased incidence of malaria, Aids and other infectious diseases was in danger of becoming a problem for the whole region.
Dumisani Muleya, a commentator in the Zimbabwe Independent, was also sceptical of UNICEFs approach: – The Global Fund and others have expressed concern that money donated in the past was not put to good use and did not have significant impact on targeted areas, he said.
He pointed out that the Zimbabwean National Aids Council was notoriously corrupt and ineffective: – Zimbabwes health crisis is largely a result of the governments own policies, he said.
– The lack of government funding means no books and no drugs. Now the Mugabe government wants the international community to solve the problem that it created. It also wants to control disbursement of those international funds, Mr. Muleya concluded.
Kilde: The Push Journal
