Aids patients in Zimbabwe losing out, says UN

UNITED NATIONS - Foreign donors are so discouraged with Zimbabwe that it is attracting far less money for Aids sufferers than the rest of Africa, the UN says.

Zimbabawe attracted just US$4 ($5.50) in outside aid for every person with Aids in 2004 compared to US$74 on average in the South African region as a whole, UN Emergency Relief Coordinator Jan Egeland said.

The country is one of a number in Africa suffering from the triple threat of soaring Aids cases, drought and "weak or bad governance", Egeland said after briefing the UN Security Council on the humanitarian situation in Africa.

However, a lack of dialogue between the government of Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe and potential donors was also to blame for the country's poor showing in Aids funding as well as persistent food shortages, he said.

Zimbabwe was once a breadbasket but its economy has virtually collapsed during the last six years and it now depends heavily on outside aid to feed its people.

Critics blame Mugabe's policies, who encouraged the seizure of white-owned commercial farms, severely disrupting Zimbabwe's agricultural sector and scaring off foreign investors.

Mugabe, who is 81 and has been in power since independence from Britain in 1980, accuses his domestic and foreign foes of trying to sabotage the economy.

Egeland urged Zimbabwe's government to co-operate with aid groups and better communicate with potential donors to help address the country's food shortages.

The government is not doing enough to facilitate the work of teams sent to assess food needs and humanitarian aid groups, he said.

- REUTERS