Zimbabwe

===Health===
{{See also|Health in Zimbabwe|HIV/AIDS in Zimbabwe|Zimbabwean cholera outbreak}}
[[File:Life expectancy in select African countries, 1950–2019.jpg|thumb|upright=1.5|Life expectancy in select Southern African countries, 1950–2019. [[HIV/AIDS]] has caused a fall in life expectancy.]]
[[File:MOP 50.jpg|thumb|Mother of Peace AIDS orphanage, [[Mutoko]] (2005)]]

At independence, the policies of racial inequality were reflected in the disease patterns of the black majority. The first five years after independence saw rapid gains in areas such as immunisation coverage, access to health care, and contraceptive prevalence rate.<ref>Davies, R. and Sanders, D. (1998). "Adjustment policies and the welfare of children: Zimbabwe, 1980–1985". In: Cornia, G.A., Jolly, R. and Stewart, F. (eds.) ''Adjustment with a human face, Vol. II: country case studies''. Clarendon Press, Oxford, pp. 272–99; {{ISBN|0198286112}}.</ref> Zimbabwe was thus considered internationally to have achieved a good record of health development.<ref>{{cite journal|author=Dugbatey, K. |year=1999|pmid=10414831 |title=National health policies: sub-Saharan African case studies (1980–1990)|journal=Soc. Sci. Med.|volume=49|pages=223–239|doi=10.1016/S0277-9536(99)00110-0|issue=2}}</ref>

Zimbabwe suffered occasional outbreaks of acute diseases. The gains on the national health were eroded by structural adjustment in the 1990s,<ref>{{cite journal|author=Marquette, C.M. |year=1997|doi=10.1016/S0305-750X(97)00019-3 |title=Current poverty, structural adjustment, and drought in Zimbabwe|journal=World Development|volume=25|pages=1141–1149|issue=7}}</ref> the impact of the HIV/AIDS pandemic<ref name="nofix" /> and the economic crisis since 2000. In 2006, Zimbabwe had one of the lowest life expectancies in the world according to UN figure—44 for men and 43 for women, down from 60 in 1990, but recovered to 60 in 2015.<ref name=":2">{{Cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-42013720|title=Zimbabwe in 10 numbers|date=18 November 2017|work=BBC News|access-date=18 November 2017|language=en-GB}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://unstats.un.org/unsd/demographic/products/socind/health.htm|title=United Nations Statistics Division|access-date=7 December 2008}}</ref> The rapid drop was ascribed mainly to the HIV/AIDS pandemic. [[Infant mortality]] rose from 6% in the late 1990s to 12.3% by 2004.<ref name="nofix">{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/7346042.stm|title=No quick fix for Zimbabwe's economy |date=14 April 2008|publisher=BBC|access-date=19 December 2008 | first=Jorn | last=Madslien}}</ref> Official fertility rates over the last decade were 3.6 (2002),<ref>{{Cite web |title=Zimbabwe Profile based on the 2002 Population Census |url=http://www.zimstat.co.zw/dmdocuments/Census/Census.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402121155/http://www.zimstat.co.zw/dmdocuments/Census/Census.pdf |archive-date=2 April 2015 |work=[[ZIMSTAT]]}}</ref> 3.8 (2006)<ref>{{Cite web |title=Zimbabwe Demographic and Health Survey 2005–06 |url=http://www.zimstat.co.zw/dmdocuments/Census/ZDHSOLD/ZDHS2006.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402092621/http://www.zimstat.co.zw/dmdocuments/Census/ZDHSOLD/ZDHS2006.pdf |archive-date=2 April 2015 |access-date=4 May 2016 |work=[[ZIMSTAT]]}}</ref> and 3.8 (2012).<ref name="zimstat.co.zw" /> The 2014 maternal mortality rate per 100,000 births for Zimbabwe was 614<ref name="Worldbank" /> compared to 960 in 2010–11<ref name="Worldbank" /> and 232 in 1990. The under five mortality rate, per 1,000 births was 75 in 2014 (94 in 2009).<ref name="Worldbank" /> The number of midwives per 1,000 live births was unavailable in 2016 and the lifetime risk of death for pregnant women 1 in 42.<ref name="SOWMY">{{cite web |title=The State of the World's Midwifery |url=http://www.unfpa.org/sowmy/report/home.html |access-date=1 June 2016 |publisher=United Nations Population Fund}}</ref>

In 2006 an association of doctors in Zimbabwe made calls for Mugabe to make moves to assist the ailing health service.<ref>{{cite news |author=Thornycroft, Peta |date=10 April 2006 |title=In Zimbabwe, life ends before 40 |work=The Sydney Morning Herald |location=Harare |url=https://www.smh.com.au/news/world/in-zimbabwe-life-ends-before-40/2006/04/09/1144521210993.html |access-date=10 April 2006}}</ref> The [[HIV/AIDS in Zimbabwe|HIV infection rate in Zimbabwe]] was estimated to be 14% for people aged 15–49 in 2009.<ref name="UNAIDS">{{cite web |title=Zimbabwe |url=http://www.unaids.org/en/regionscountries/countries/zimbabwe |access-date=16 January 2011 |publisher=UNAIDS}}</ref> [[UNESCO]] reported a decline in HIV prevalence among pregnant women from 26% in 2002 to 21% in 2004.<ref name="UNESCO">{{cite web |title=HIV Prevalence Rates Fall in Zimbabwe |url=http://www.harare.unesco.org/educaids/zimprevalence.html |access-date=3 December 2007 |publisher=UNESCO |archive-date=30 March 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080330055849/http://www.harare.unesco.org/educaids/zimprevalence.html |url-status=dead }}</ref> By 2016 HIV/AIDS prevalence had been reduced to 13.5%<ref name=":2" /> compared to 40% in 1998.<ref name="Worldbank" />

At the end of November 2008, some operations at three of Zimbabwe's four major referral hospitals had shut down, along with the Zimbabwe Medical School, and the fourth major hospital had two wards and no operating theatres working.<ref name="hospitalsprnid">{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/7714892.stm|title=The death throes of Harare's hospitals|date=7 November 2008|publisher=BBC |access-date=3 December 2008 | first=Brian | last=Hungwe}}</ref> Those hospitals still open were not able to obtain basic drugs and medicines.<ref name="coping">{{cite news|url=http://www.icrc.org/web/eng/siteeng0.nsf/html/zimbabwe-feature-261108?opendocument|title=Zimbabwe: coping with the cholera outbreak|date=26 November 2008|access-date=3 December 2008}}</ref> The situation changed drastically after the Unity Government and the introduction of the multi-currency system in February 2009 although the political and economic crisis also contributed to the emigration of the doctors and people with medical knowledge.<ref name="Zimbabwe cholera deaths near 500">{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/7760088.stm|title=Zimbabwe cholera deaths near 500|date=2 December 2008|publisher=BBC|access-date=2 December 2008}}</ref>
[[File:2008 Zimbabwe Cholera Outbreak Combined.svg|thumb|Map showing the spread of [[cholera]] in and around Zimbabwe put together from several sources]]
In August 2008 large areas of Zimbabwe were struck by the ongoing cholera epidemic. By December 2008 more than 10,000 people had been infected in all but one of Zimbabwe's provinces, and the outbreak had spread to Botswana, Mozambique, South Africa and Zambia.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7768740.stm |title=PM urges Zimbabwe cholera action |work=BBC News |date=6 December 2008 |access-date=6 June 2012}}</ref><ref name="Milliband">[http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/africa/article5294534.ece "Miliband backs African calls for end of Mugabe"], ''[[The Times]]'', 5 December 2008.</ref> On 4 December 2008 the Zimbabwe government declared the outbreak to be a national emergency and asked for international aid.<ref name="Zimbabwe declares national emergency over cholera">{{cite news|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idUSTRE4B31T420081204?feedType=RSS&feedName=worldNews&rpc=69&pageNumber=2&virtualBrandChannel=0|title=Zimbabwe declares national emergency over cholera|date=4 December 2008|work=Reuters|access-date=4 December 2008}}</ref><ref name="emergency">{{cite news|url=https://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5hsW9YNn1roEp0rzjeGSJo0pKcj2A|title=Zimbabwe declares cholera outbreak a national emergency|date=4 December 2008|agency=Agence France-Presse |access-date=4 December 2008|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130927163223/http://www.undp.org.zw/component/docman/doc_download/230-zimbabwe-poverty-report-2011-april-17-2013 |archive-date=27 September 2013}}</ref> By 9 March 2009 The World Health Organization estimated that 4,011 people had succumbed to the waterborne disease since the outbreak began, and the total number of cases recorded had reached 89,018.<ref name="On the cholera frontline">[http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=83378 On the cholera frontline]. [[The New Humanitarian|IRIN]]. 9 March 2009</ref> In Harare, the city council offered free graves to cholera victims.<ref name="rain">{{cite news|url=http://africa.reuters.com/top/news/usnJOE4AT06A.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081206151846/http://africa.reuters.com/top/news/usnJOE4AT06A.html|archive-date=6 December 2008|title=Zimbabwe says cholera epidemic may spread with rain|date=30 November 2008|work=Reuters|url-status=dead|access-date=3 December 2008}}</ref>