Zimbabwe has declared a national emergency over a cholera epidemic and health care system collapse, and is seeking more international help to pay for food, drugs and hospital equipment, the state-run newspaper said yesterday.

“Our central hospitals are literally not functioning,” Minister of Health David Parirenyatwa said on Wednesday at a meeting of government and international aid officials, according to The Herald newspaper.

The health minister declared the state of emergency at the meeting, and appealed for money to pay for food, drugs, hospital equipment and salaries for doctors and nurses. “Our staff is de-motivated and we need your support to ensure that they start coming to work and our health system is revived,” he was quoted as saying.

A cholera epidemic blamed on lack of water treatment and broken sewage pipes has killed more than 500 people across the country, the United Nations said.

Without help, the situation could get much worse, said Walter Mzembi, the deputy water minister. He said the ministry has only enough chemicals to treat water nationally for 12 more weeks.

UN agencies, embassies and aid groups at the meeting pledged to help, according to The Herald.

The European Commission said it would provide more than US$12 million for drugs and clean water, and the International Red Cross said it would release more funds to help deal with cholera.

“We need to pool our resources together and see how best we can respond to this emergency,” Agostinho Zacarias, the UN Development Program director in Zimbabwe, was quoted as saying.

Zimbabwe is suffering from the world’s highest inflation, and Zimbabweans face daily shortages of food and other basic goods. The government, meanwhile, has been paralyzed since disputed March elections, with President Robert Mugabe and the opposition wrangling over a power-sharing deal.