Zimbabwe

Zimbabwe is located in southern Africa between the Zambizi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered to the north by Zambia and to the south by South Africa. For most of the 20th century, the area was known as Southern Rhodesia, named in honor of British colonialist Cecil Rhodes, who took control of the area in 1888. The country followed a chaotic path to independence, and took the name of Zimbabwe in 1980. Under the control of a single president, the controversial Robert Mugabe, the government has pursued various schemes of land reform and redistribution of power from wealthy white landowners to common Zimbabweans. However, most of the citizens remain desperately poor.

The population of Zimbabwe is 12.3 million, growing at 0.6 percent annually. The AIDS epidemic and high child mortality have stalled population growth and decreased life expectancy from 61 years in 1990 to 33 years in 2006. According to the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), Zimbabwe has seen one of the sharpest increases in child mortality in modern history: in 1990, there were 80 deaths per 1,000 for children under 5; by 2005, there were 132 deaths per 1,000. Maternal mortality has also risen dramatically, from 695 deaths per 100,000 live births in 1999 to over 1,000 deaths per 100,000 live births in 2002.

Zimbabwe's economy has declined precipitously in recent years, fueled in part by the cost of war with the Democratic Republic of the Congo between 1998 and 2002. Government services have ceased or have been severely restricted. A crackdown on illegal housing and businesses has left 700,000 homeless and out of work. The overall unemployment rate is 80 percent. Urban poverty rose 66 percent between 1995 and 2003. Over 80 percent of the population gets by on less than $2 a day. Food insecurity is also on the rise; the World Health Organization estimates that 3 million Zimbabweans, out of a total population of 11.3 million, are in need of food assistance.

With much of the public water and sanitation system in disrepair, waterborne and food-borne illnesses are on the rise. Recent years have seen an increase in diarrheal diseases, and there have been several outbreaks of cholera. Malaria is a continuing problem. As the AIDS epidemic has expanded, tuberculosis cases have risen by 500 percent in the last decade.

Zimbabwe has the world's fourth highest rate of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)/AIDS, and while the rate of infection has dropped slightly in recent years to 20.1 percent, an estimated 1.7 million Zimbabweans are currently living with the disease, and 3,000 die of AIDS each week. Donor support for those living with HIV is down to $4 per person per day, and only 24,000 of the 500,000 people who would benefit from antiretroviral drugs are currently being [Page 1777]treated. Education programs have shut down for lack of funding. There is little help for the 1.1 million children orphaned by the diseases.

While Zimbabwe once had a fairly modern medical infrastructure, it is today in a state of collapse. Any country where one in 10 citizens is chronically ill would be hard-pressed to provide adequate care, but in a country where government expenditure on healthcare is only $14 per person per year, and where 8 in 10 people are unable to pay for services, it has proven impossible. Many doctors and medical staff have left the country for better opportunities abroad. Many of those who remain are ill themselves, with an estimate 2.5 percent of remaining medical personnel dying each year from AIDS and other diseases.

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