International medical charity, Medicins Sans Frontieres (MSF) has warned that Zimbabwe's humanitarian crisis continues to deteriorate, causing appalling suffering.
The organization said in a statement issued in Nairobi on Tuesday that its medical teams have now treated almost 45,000 people, an estimated 75 percent of the total number of cases in the current cholera outbreak -- and the crisis is far from over.
"There has been a devastating implosion of Zimbabwe's once-lauded health system, which doesn't just affect cholera patients." said Manuel Lopez, MSF Head of Mission in Zimbabwe.
"We know that public hospitals are turning people away, health centres are running out of supplies and equipment, there is an acute lack of medical staff, patients can't afford to travel to pick up their HIV medication or to receive treatment and many of our own clinics are overflowing. From what we see each day it couldn't be clearer -- this is a massive medical emergency, spiralling out of control."
The medical charity is appealing to the Zimbabwean government to immediately remove existing barriers and facilitate independent assessment of needs in order to be able to provide timely, essential humanitarian and medical aid.
The organization also called on the international community to respect the distinction between political goals and the urgent humanitarian imperative to ensure that Zimbabweans receive the assistance they need today.
MSF said the severity of cholera outbreak is just one manifestation of the disastrous state of Zimbabwe's health system and its collapsed infrastructure.
It said many health facilities have now closed or are not functioning. Others demand exorbitant fees in foreign currencies. Effectively, this makes it impossible for most Zimbabweans to access medical care.
"The situation in Zimbabwe is causing inexcusable suffering. Urgent measures must be taken to ensure Zimbabweans have unimpeded access to the humanitarian assistance they so desperately need," said Dr. Christophe Fournier, International President of MSF.
"The Zimbabwean government must guarantee that aid agencies can work wherever needs are identified and ease bureaucratic restrictions so projects can be properly staffed and drugs quickly procured."
MSF has had to respond on such a massive scale to the cholera outbreak as local health structures simply couldn't cope.
Zimbabwe's political crisis and resulting economic breakdown have led to abysmal access to public healthcare; a collapsed infrastructure; a crushing HIV epidemic; political violence; food shortages and malnutrition; internal displacement and displacement to neighboring countries.
In Zimbabwe, despite the glaring humanitarian crisis, MSF said it often experiences restrictions and enforced delays when carrying out its work. To make matters worse, there is a clear lack of a strong, coordinated, international response to the unfolding humanitarian emergency.
"Governments and international agencies must recognize the severity of this crisis and ensure that the provision of humanitarian aid remains distinct from political processes," Dr. Fournier said.
"Their policies towards Zimbabwe must not come at the expense of the humanitarian imperative to ensure that malnourished children, victims of violence and people with HIV/AIDS or other illnesses have unhindered access to the assistance they need to survive."