Zimbabwe is in a humanitarian crisis that is the result of a political crisis. A cholera epidemic has—as of January 12, 2009—left over 39,000 people infected and at least 2,000 dead, with the disease spreading to neighboring countries. This marks both the collapse of Zimbabwe’s healthcare system and the calculated disregard for the welfare of Zimbabweans by the ruling party, the Zimbabwe African National Union – Patriotic Front (ZANU-PF).