Updated on Wednesday, December 10, 2008, 00:00 IST

Harare, Dec 10: The death toll from cholera in Zimbabwe has risen to 746, with 15,572 suspected cases reported across the southern African country, according to the latest figures released by the UN on Wednesday.

The capital Harare is the worst-affected district with 189 deaths and 7,653 suspected cases recorded as of December 9, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said in a statement.

Earlier on Tuesday, the United Nations children's fund said that it needed USD 17.5 million to tackle cholera in Zimbabwe amid warnings tens of thousands of people could contract the disease.

"Zimbabwe is grappling with a cholera crisis of unprecedented levels," UNICEF said in a press briefing.

"During the past eight weeks the crisis has rapidly deteriorated as the basic service delivery system collapsed. Schools and hospitals are closing, patients cannot access health care, teachers, nurses and doctors are not able to come to work," it said.

"Three public hospitals in Harare are closed because of a lack of staff. There are no more surgical operations, the obstetrics services and surgery are also shut which means there are silent deaths occurring that we cannot count," said Elisabeth Byrs, spokeswoman for the UN's Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).

The World Health Organisation said that in a worst-case scenario, up to 60,000 people could become infected -- in line with a previous forecast by UNICEF's top official in the country.

"The health-cluster assessment in a worst-case scenario is 60,000 cases," WHO spokeswoman Fadela Chaib told journalists.

UNICEF said it had moved to "full emergency mode" and developed a 120-day emergency response plan focused on relief efforts and the provision of basic social services, for which it would need 17.5 million dollars.

Bureau Report