30 Jan 2012

800 typhoid cases reported in Zimbabwe

8:49 am on 30 January 2012

An doctors' group in Zimbabwe says there were 800 cases of typhoid in a recent outbreak.

No deaths have been reported in the past three weeks but the Zimbabwe Association of Doctors for Human Rights says the coalition government lacks urgency in dealing with public health woes.

In a statement, the group said that clean water supplies were still irregular or "completely absent" in most townships in Harare. Burst sewers were left unattended and meat and fish were sold on streets nearby.

A cholera outbreak in 2009 blamed on the collapse of water, sanitation and prevention services in Zimbabwe killed more than 4000 people.