So much for the 'free market'. In Tanzania alone, female life expectancy has dropped six years over the period of reform. Last year the slaughter in Rwanda hit the headlines. But one aspect of the violence that received less attention than might have been expected was the involvement of the Catholic Church. Two priests and two nuns are already in prison.
Cholera is a disease caused by poverty and poor sanitation.
Get rid of poverty and cholera usually disappears in turn. What is surprising, however, is that it is making a comeback in countries where it has been unknown for most of this century - like the Ukraine, Romania and Albania. Recent reports indicate that the disease is most widespread in Romania, but in the Ukraine last October it killed 20 people and put another 800 into hospital. Most commentators put the return of this deadly disease down to the collapse of the health services in those countries. With privatisation all the rage, nobody wants to take over the 'unprofitable' business of keeping people healthy through basic sanitation.