Uganda should help on Zimbabwe crisis

Jan 01, 2009

THE African Union and the United Nations Security Council should help Zimbabwe find a solution to its health crisis, an advocacy group has said.

By Ben Okiror

THE African Union and the United Nations Security Council should help Zimbabwe find a solution to its health crisis, an advocacy group has said.

A resolution signed by 23 delegates to the International Federation of Health and Human Rights (IFHHRO) Africa regional conference also asked Uganda to use its membership in the UN Security Council to seek a resolution on the crisis in Zimbabwe.

The conference was held at the Rider Hotel in Seeta recently.

IFHHRO is a non-governmental organisation that advances international cooperation in the protection and promotion of health-related human rights.

The resolution said Zimbabwe had committed to the protection and promotion of human rights through the ratification of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.

“Under these obligations, Zimbabwe has committed to the progressive realisation of the right to the highest attainable standard of health, by providing available, accessible and acceptable, quality health services,” the resolution read.

In the last three months, the health sector in Zimbabwe has collapsed due to lack of medicine, equipment and staff.

“The economic challenges facing Zimbabwe have resulted in a complete breakdown of public services throughout the country,” it said.

As a result, the resolution said, about one million people are at risk of contracting cholera.

Hospitals that handle 40-50 complicated deliveries each day sit empty and public clinics throughout the country have closed.”

As a result, the resolution said, about one million people are at risk of contracting cholera.

The five-day conference to train health professionals on monitoring the right to health drew delegates from Uganda, Kenya, DR Congo, Rwanda, Burundi, Tanzania, Sudan, Zimbabwe and Zambia.

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