Zimbabwe ? President Robert Mugabe declared Thursday that there was “no cholera” in Zimbabwe and the country’s health crisis was over, even as the United Nations raised the death toll from the epidemic to 783.

Cholera has spread rapidly in the southern African nation because of the country’s crumbling health care system and the lack of clean water. The U.N. said 16,403 cases have been reported.

Last week, Zimbabwe declared a health emergency because of cholera and the collapse of its health services. South African authorities have declared the cholera-hit border region with Zimbabwe a disaster area as the disease spreads to other countries.

At a state funeral Thursday for a ruling party official, Mugabe insisted the outbreak of the waterborne disease had been “arrested” with the help of the World Health Organization and other aid agencies.

Mugabe lashed out at critics who have been calling for his ouster — and even military intervention — as concerns about Zimbabwe’s deepening humanitarian crisis mounted.

“So now that there is no cholera, there is no cause for war anymore. We need doctors, not soldiers,” he said during an hour-long address broadcast live on state television.