Zambia praises China for helping fight cholera

LUSAKA, Sept. 19 (Xinhua) -- Zambia has commended China for being among the development partners that responded quickly when the country was hit by a cholera outbreak from October last year to the first quarter of 2024.

Kennedy Lishimpi, permanent secretary in charge of technical services in the Ministry of Health, said China's response enabled the government to respond swiftly to improve water supplies in cholera-prone areas through donations of water tanks, among other support.

"China assisted Zambia in terms of making sure that our community responses were done properly. We had the tanks that we needed to make sure water was available to the citizens, and they also supported the availability of different medicines," he said in a recent interview with Xinhua.

Lishimpi also said the government has asked a Chinese company to help produce oral cholera vaccines in preparation for the coming rainy season when the country is prone to cholera outbreaks. The two parties were in the final stages of discussions on the production of the vaccines.

He added that the government signed a memorandum of understanding with the Chinese company on the sidelines of the 2024 Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation, held in Beijing earlier this month, to set up an oral cholera vaccine plant in Zambia.

According to him, a site for the plant has already been found in a multi-facility economic zone in Lusaka, the country's capital.

Zambia has recorded more than 20,000 cholera cases and over 700 deaths since October last year, one of the worst cholera outbreaks the country has ever seen.

Citing the upgrading of the Levy Mwanawasa University Teaching Hospital from a 250-bed to a 1,200-bed capacity, Lishimpi acknowledged that Zambia-China cooperation in the health sector has brought tangible benefits to the southern African country.

He said the hospital has benefited not only in terms of infrastructure but also through equipment donations and skills development. The laparoscopic equipment recently received, for instance, will help the hospital perform surgical procedures with ease.

He also said the specialist doctors who have come to Zambia as part of the Chinese medical teams have improved the skills of local health workers. "Local health workers have been trained in urology and neurological surgery under the supervision of Chinese doctors."

Charles Mutemba, senior medical superintendent at the hospital, commended the Chinese medical teams that have been attached to the hospital, noting that they have made immense contributions to the delivery of health services.

The Chinese medical teams have instilled confidence in the work culture of local health workers, he said, adding that health complications that the hospital used to send out of the country for specialist treatment are now being treated locally because of the skills acquired from the Chinese doctors.