RESOLUTION PROPOSED TO END CHOLERA GLOBALLY
Speaking at the World Health Assembly in Geneva Switzerland, Minister of Health Dr Chitalu Chilufya paid tribute to the Global Taskforce on Cholera Control (GTFCC) and Secretariat who have worked tirelessly to support affected countries and coordinate response strategies at global level.
Dr Chilufya said it was now two centuries since cholera was recognised as a disease of devastating epidemic potential which had remained a global threat to humanity.
He said the disease affected more than 51 countries worldwide, with an estimated 2.9 million cases and 95,000 deaths occurring every year.
+e said the most affected were developing countries, where access to clean safe water and sanitation remained a serious challenge.
Dr Chilufya explained that Zambia recorded its first cholera outbreak in 1977 and had since recorded 29 outbreaks ever since, with the latest outbreak, affecting up to , individuals with a case fatality rate of 1.93 percent.
“This was an unprecedented outbreak owing to high level political will, local resource mobilisation and deployment, and a well-coordinated multisectoral response,” he said.
His Excellency President Edgar Chagwa Lungu had appointed a committee of Cabinet Ministers, led by the Health Minister to oversee and mobilise resources for the response.
Furthermore, at technical level a multisectoral team led by the Zambia National Public Health Institute (ZNPHI) had provided technical oversight to the response using the Incident Management System (IMS) strategy
The minister pledged commitment to the global cholera control strategy launched by the Global Task Force on Cholera Control (GTFCC) – Ending Cholera: “A Roadmap to 2030.”
This strategy implores affected countries, technical partners, and donors to reduce cholera deaths by 90 percent and eliminate cholera transmission in at least 20 countries by 2030.
In line with this, the Government of Zambia has taken a bold step by setting a legacy goal: ‘To eliminate cholera in Zambia by 2025”’.
“It has long been common knowledge from research and lessons learnt in different cholera outbreak situations that poor access to water and sanitation services were major drivers of cholera and other waterborne diseases.
In embracing the principle of UHC, Zambia resolved to transform the healthcare management to promote equity, basic rights, and health security that can lead to significant economic gains.
There was need to ensure populations have access to appropriate healthcare, early case management, access to safe water, sanitation, education, health literacy and improved hygiene behaviours (WASH).
The use of oral cholera vaccines, strengthened surveillance, information sharing, improved laboratory capacity, community involvement, and action on social determinants of health are critical elements in driving the elimination of cholera.
All these interventions require commitment and dedicated financial, material, infrastructure and human resources.
Notably, colossal sums of money have been spent on a reactive approach to outbreaks and yet these resources could have been used more equitably and effectiYely to resolYe drivers of cholera and other waterborne diseases through preparedness and preventive activities, infrastructure development and better primary health care service delivery.
The Zambia Government acknowledged and agreed with the perspective that the way forward to resolving and ending cholera required a coordinated and multisectoral approach.
*oYernment affirms that now it was the time for the world to act and accelerate action against cholera at country, regional and global levels and so made a clarion call and appeal to all member states to support the Resolution to end cholera globally, which Zambia was sponsoring together with the Haitian Government.