Zambia will begin to produce the cholera vaccine locally, President Hakainde Hichilema has disclosed.
Officially opening the 13th Session of the Fourth National Assembly of Zambia this morning, President Hichilema told the house that the government is beginning the local manufacture of the cholera vaccine to safeguard people and create employment. “The market is not just for Zambia, but for the region, Africa, and beyond.”
Cholera has been a perennial problem in Zambia, which has had more than 30 outbreaks since 1977 with arguably the worst incident experienced in 2023/24 when more than 700 people died.
President Hichilema further stated that stock availability of essential medicines in health facilities had surpassed the World Health Organization minimum level requirement and had procured 42,000 health center kits and essential medicines to stabilize the availability of medicines and medical supplies.
He said this year, stock availability had improved to an average of 85% at health centers and 76% at the hospital level.
Going forward, he said, the government would continue to strengthen the supply and management of drugs to ensure the availability of essential medicines in all health facilities at all times.
“Additionally, your government is putting in measures to safeguard the drugs against pilferage. Laws are being strengthened. You steal medicine or anything that is life-saving, you will be jailed for a long time,” he warned.
To improve health service delivery at the community level, especially in rural areas, Mr. Hichilema said the government has decentralized district health services and accelerated infrastructure development to ensure that health services are taken as close to the people as possible,
“Your government has completed seven level 1 hospitals and 111 mini-hospitals out of the target 115 mini-hospitals. We are now commencing phase two of mini-hospital construction aiming to complete 120 more facilities by 2027.”
To reduce maternal mortality, the government has constructed 166 maternal annexes in the past two years, with 123 completed this year, said Mr. Hichilema.
He said additional to the 3,500 health workers recruited in 2023, 4,000 health workers are to be recruited this year, to equip the health service with the much-needed workforce to reduce the ratio of health staff to patients and provide quality health care.
