Zimbabwe cholera epidemic 'not under control' - WHO
12/12/2008 15:50 GENEVA, December 12 (RIA Novosti) - The World Health Organization (WHO) denied on Friday claims by Zimbabwe's president that the country's worst cholera epidemic in decades was under control.
Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe said in a nationally broadcast speech on Thursday: "I am happy to say our doctors have been assisted by others and the WHO and there is no cholera."
The statement came after WHO said that nearly 800 deaths had been reported in the country since August, while the number of suspected cases had risen to over 15,000.
In the worst-case scenario, up to 60,000 people could be infected, the UN agency warned.
"I don't think that the cholera outbreak is under control as of now," a spokeswoman for the organization, Fadela Chaib, said.
In Zimbabwe, which has in recent years become a focus of international concern over widespread human rights violations, some 80% of people lack access to safe and clean water, the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) earlier said.
UNICEF has warned that the outbreak of cholera, which is spread by drinking contaminated water, could "get even worse due to a deteriorating sanitation system."
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