Tsetse Fly

When referring to the sorry state of the country, people often speak of "the Zimbabwean crisis" (singular). Indeed there is a single cause of the multi-layered crisis that now besets the unfortunate people of this land, and that is to be located in ZANU PF's prolonged misrule. But although the cause is one, the crises (plural) it has spawned are many. There is a severe crisis in the economy for instance, as in manufacturing, as in agriculture, in education, health care and so on. In fact just about every sector of the national life is plunged into deep crisis right now. They are of course inter-related crises and together contribute to the collective sense of pain shared by all save the ruling elite who cushion themselves with the privileges of power, Mugabe-style. More accurately therefore we should perhaps speak of the "Zimbabwean crises" (plural) except when referring to the central crisis of misrule.

One of the many crises which receives considerably less attention than it deserves is the health time bomb which is ticking away as traditional disease control measures are abandoned, essentially for lack of funds.

Take the dreaded disease of sleeping sickness for example - African Trypanosomiasis to give it its proper title. This is a slow, wasting illness characterized by fever and inflammation of the lymph nodes, leading to profound lethargy that frequently ends in death; in other words, a most unpleasant way to die. The disease is spread by the bite of the tsetse fly.