Cholera kills nearly 600 people - India sends 3.5-tonne humanitarian aid to Zambia
As zambia tries to manage the cholera outbreak, which has already claimed many lives, india has dispatched humanitarian help to the southern African nation. The help, which weighs around 3.5 tonnes, includes water purification supplies, chlorine pills, and hydration in the form of ORS sachets.
Zambia is experiencing one of its biggest health disasters in history, with about 600 people murdered and over 15,000 sick with cholera since october 2023, according to the BBC. Nine of Zambia's ten regions have recorded cholera cases, with the great majority occurring in Lusaka, a metropolis of around 3 million people, where officials have established a makeshift treatment facility outside the National Heroes Stadium.
The government has also launched a mass immunisation programme, and officials are supplying clean water — 2.4 million litres per day — to afflicted areas throughout Zambia. A nationwide public awareness campaign has also been initiated. To deal with the deteriorating situation, the government had to mobilise retired health personnel and volunteers.
However, healthcare professionals confront difficulties as heavy rains continue to impede physical access and safe water in many regions of the nation. Notably, the three-month epidemic had a mortality rate of roughly 4%, which is much higher than the normal cholera death rate of less than 1%. The United Nations Children's Fund, UNICEF, described it as "a devastatingly high number".
According to Zambian health officials, more than half of the patients in the new epidemic died before being taken to a hospital.
Zambia is experiencing one of its biggest health disasters in history, with about 600 people murdered and over 15,000 sick with cholera since october 2023, according to the BBC. Nine of Zambia's ten regions have recorded cholera cases, with the great majority occurring in Lusaka, a metropolis of around 3 million people, where officials have established a makeshift treatment facility outside the National Heroes Stadium.
The government has also launched a mass immunisation programme, and officials are supplying clean water — 2.4 million litres per day — to afflicted areas throughout Zambia. A nationwide public awareness campaign has also been initiated. To deal with the deteriorating situation, the government had to mobilise retired health personnel and volunteers.
However, healthcare professionals confront difficulties as heavy rains continue to impede physical access and safe water in many regions of the nation. Notably, the three-month epidemic had a mortality rate of roughly 4%, which is much higher than the normal cholera death rate of less than 1%. The United Nations Children's Fund, UNICEF, described it as "a devastatingly high number".
According to Zambian health officials, more than half of the patients in the new epidemic died before being taken to a hospital.