The government of Zambia needs to come up with more sustainable solutions to curb the outbreak of cholera in the country instead of urging people to relocate from towns to villages.
Development Diaries reports that Zambian President Hakainde Hichilema recently urged citizens to relocate from towns to villages following the deaths of about 300 people from cholera infection.
According to a report by the BBC, it seemed that he held certain Zambians responsible for the growth of ill-planned informal communities by saying that they came to towns ‘without a defined aim’.
The president claimed that some young people were ‘hanging around and doing nothing’ in towns rather than relocating to farms in rural areas.
As of 11 January 2024, the Ministry of Health had reported 8,276 cumulative cholera cases and 333 deaths, with a case fatality rate of four percent in the country, according to the European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations (ECHO).
It is understood that Zambia anticipates receiving 1.4 million doses of the World Health Organisation’s (WHO) cholera vaccine as a containment measure, but in the meantime, the government has banned public gatherings and street vendors and has delayed the start of the school year by three weeks.
To effectively curb the cholera outbreak in Zambia, the government needs to implement a comprehensive strategy that combines preventive measures, public awareness campaigns, and improvements in health care infrastructure.
The government can take several sustainable key actions to tackle the outbreak, like investing in developing and maintaining proper sanitation infrastructure, including sewage systems and waste disposal facilities.
Also, there is a need to upgrade and expand access to clean water sources, particularly in vulnerable and densely populated areas.
Awareness plays a huge role in containing the spread of disease outbreaks; hence, the Zambian health ministry can launch extensive public awareness campaigns about the causes of cholera, its symptoms, and preventive measures, while also educating communities on proper hygiene practices, including handwashing, safe food handling, and the importance of using clean water.
Additionally, the government must encourage the establishment of community-based initiatives that focus on maintaining cleanliness and preventing the spread of waterborne diseases, not forgetting to enhance health care infrastructure to handle cholera cases, including the establishment of cholera treatment centres.
Development Diaries calls on the government of Zambia to focus on creating long-term investments in sanitation infrastructure to ensure a successful cholera prevention and control strategy.
Photo source: WHO
