Tsvangirai told an emergency meeting of health workers that the epidemic that has swept the country since August was a sign of the collapse of Zimbabwe's health system.

"We have had a clear warning of this in the national trauma of over 85 000 reported cases of cholera, and over 4000 reported cholera deaths by the end of February 2009," he said.

"A dramatic underestimate"

"This is most likely a dramatic underestimate of the real figures given the unreported cases and deaths in communities," he added.

Zimbabwe's health system was once the envy of Africa, but nearly a decade of economic collapse has left hospitals and clinics in shambles.

Doctors and nurses went on strike for months to protest their salaries, which had been reduced to pittances by world-record inflation.

Health workers began returning to the job after Tsvangirai joined a unity government three weeks ago, but they remain without medicine or basic supplies to treat their patients.

Zimbabwe is relying largely on international aid to rein in the cholera epidemic, which has compounded the health crisis in a country where 1.3 million people have HIV.

"The challenges are significant but if the government co-ordinates its activities effectively and if we build upon the relationships with our stakeholders, we will be able to overcome," Tsvangirai said.

He said the health sector needed urgent funding to train more staff and source supplies to avoid dependence on foreign aid.

"While the cholera epidemic has necessitated an emergency response we cannot be permanently locked in an emergency mode," he said.

Tsvangirai became prime minister last month in power-sharing government with President Robert Mugabe, aimed at defusing political tensions and tackling the country's stunning economic collapse.