This CNN report has a few things to say about the cholera crisis in Zimbabwe (which we believe “disguises” some of the issues):

Quote: “Mugabe declared in mid-December that the cholera epidemic had slowed,”

Our comment: No, he said “There is no cholera in Zimbabwe”. Source

Quote: “but health experts differed with him and the latest figures seem to contradict his statement.“ and “seeming to confirm health experts’ concerns that the disease is not yet under control.”

Our comment: Below is a chart detailing the cholera infections (starting on 19 December, up to and including 28 January, using WHO figures from this web page). I think all our readers will agree that the figures don’t “seem to disagree”, it is clear to a child that the figures show a steady rise, and if anything, an acceleration in the infections.

As mentioned in a previous post, the indications of success in the attempts to stem the tide of infections will take the form of a slowdown in the new infections, or a classic bell curve in the graph (which is clearly not evident in the graph below).