HARARE - ABOUT 45 Zimbabweans per every 1 000 die of malaria, the Minister of Health and Child Welfare, Dr Henry Madzorera, has confirmed.
This is less than the 62 cases reported and recorded per 1 000 last year by the health ministry.
“I must, however, warn the media about some of these figures because they are very sensitive and must be reported correctly,” Dr Madzorera said.
“People read newspapers and believe what they read in newspapers and so journalists must not report unsubstantiated figures which are not coming from us and our officials in the Ministry.”
This comes amid reports that there were “conflicting” figures from different sources published in newspapers which did not emanate from the Ministry of Health and Child Welfare.
Sources interviewed by The Zimbabwean, however, pointed out that the Ministry of Health and Child Welfare is “very secretive” about revealing “figures or information” in general, thinking that putting out “bad figures”, for example, could result in Zimbabwe’s aklready battered image being further “tarnished”.
“Look at what happened when we did not tell the world the truth about our HIV/Aids crisis,” said a source in an exclusive interview. “This resulted in Zimbabwe being rated anmong the nations with the highest Aids-related deaths in the world. This could have been prevented had the Ministry of Health and Child Welfare come out in the open and told people the truth. Look now it is only when things are going well that the ministry wants to reveal the otherwise still very shocking state of affairs in the country.”
At least 3 000 Zimbabweans are understood to be dying weekly in the poor country due to the HIV/Aids virus or related diseases.
More than 1,1 million Zimbabweans are currently living with HIV, 60 percent of them being women.
Dr Phillip Makurumidze told The Zimbabwean that the HIV/Aids prevalence rate currently stood at 14,26 percent down from about 30 percent a year ago.
He re-interated this figure at a two-day conference for the Zimbabwe Association of Family Therapists and Professional Counsellors (ZAFTPC) held at the New Ambassador Hotel in Harare.
“The prevalence rate (HIV) locally currently stands at 14,26,” Dr Makurumidze said.
The conference, the first to be held by the association in Zimbabwe, was attended by more than 50 family counsellors from around the country.
Post published in: News