By Daily Revelation Editor
We are still far from containing and winning the fight against cholera and probably COVID-19 which lately has been on the increase. Some COVID-19 cases have been reported among community members, work places and also with health workers countrywide.
Two weeks ago, Health Minister Sylvia Masebo announced that some health workers at Heroes Cholera centre tested positive for COVID-19 while on the Copperbelt and other places COVID-19 cases have also been recorded.
These are signs that we cannot afford to drop our guard against Cholera or COVID-19, and efforts towards curbing both diseases should intensify with sensitisation programmes a must.
But what is happening on the ground is worrying and probably requires authorities to seriously move in and compel people to uphold the hygiene protocols for both Cholera and COVID-19.
We say so because many Zambians have taken a casual approach to the health guidelines probably because sensitisation is low.
One only needs to take a visit to places like Soweto Market and other trading areas around the city, and they will easily be met with an I don’t care attitude by most citizens comfortably sitting and chilling around in muddy and waterlogged areas, selling all sorts of foodstuffs from mushrooms, vegetables and many other merchandise in an environment not conducive to conduct business.
Besides being filthy and not conducive for conducting business, these areas are also very crowded. It is business as usual and no one seems to even care about the fact that there is Cholera and people are dying every day.
We have come to observe that even things that are critical and were easily embraced like wearing masks are no longer fashionable now with people arguing that Covid-19 finished a long time ago.
As we write, the country has continued to record cases of cholera every day. As at January 20, 2024, the country had a cumulative number of 11,947 cases and a total of 464 deaths and most of these are happening in Lusaka. Surely these are alarming statistics for the country and it means we are not doing what is expected in order to prevent Cholera and more deaths.
In most of the market places and trading areas for instance, people are going about with their business as usual attitude as if there is no cholera to contend with in the country. There are no water points with liquid soap where one can even wash their hands or sanitise.
In short, we observed a lot of exposure for people to easily contract the disease, and call upon the government to scale up sensitisation and enforcement efforts if there are to be tangible results in terms of fighting cholera. There is more to this disease than just visiting the Heroes Stadium or doing some PR stunts in one or two areas. Visit kanyama Hospital for instance, it’s depressing to see the many cholera cases that are being attended to around the clock.
There is also a need for constant health talks to be conducted so that people are reminded on the dangers of not observing hygiene standards because if we relax, we may experience more deaths than currently being recorded.
