CHOLERA CONTINUES

...as closure of Kachasu busineses affects livelihoods in affected communities.


By Alfonso Kasongo
Zambia has continued recording new cases of cholera with 167 cases being registered in the  last 24 hours.

This  brings the cumulative total to 17,930 case since the disease was first recorded in October, last year.

The epidemic has,however, triggered the extension of the reopening of schools and colleges, as well as closure of businesses such as the brewing of high potent traditional alcoholic beverage (spirit) called Kachasu.

Kachasu continues to be used by the locals in most rural and peri urban communities to prevent and treat the disease, on assumption that the illicit spirit prevents the contraction of the diarrhoeal disease.
Journalist Alfonso Kasongo demonstrates the drinking of Kachasu as he interacts with some brewers in George compound in Lima Ward of Matero constituency-Lusaka/ file

But the affected brewers have condemned government's action saying the move has lobbed them income that supports their livelihoods.

Loveness Phiri, one of the affected brewers says " for sure I never expected such action considering the current economic situation in the country."

"Imagine ,the basic cost of living for a family of five here in Lusaka, is about K10,000..how can the so called pro poor government take such a ruthless action, yes we know government needs to protect lives but the action is inhuman for us in poor communities," she adds.

According to the Zambia National Public Health Institute (ZNPHI) daily cholera update, the country has recorded 5 deaths ,2 at health facility and 3 in communities bringing the total number of deaths to 635 since October, 2023.

However, community death continue to lead with cumulative total of 375 compared to 260 deaths registered at health facilities.

Meanwhile 183 patients have been discharged leaving  247 in admission.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

ZAAB QUESTIONS GOVERNMENT'S SILENCE ON PBR BILL

Image
  ZAAB QUESTIONS  GOVERNMENT'S SILENCE ON PBR BILL  By Alfonso Kasongo  A collaborative network of concerned citizens, civil society groups, faith and farmer-based organisations, working together to strengthen the growing movement for agroecology and food sovereignty has questioned government's failure to avail the proposed new Plant Breeders Rights (PBR) Bill.  Zambia Alliance for Agroecology and Biodiversity (ZAAB) maintains that controversial Bill is inappropriate for the country and must not be enacted as it aligns the country to the International Union for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants (UPOV) 1991 standards. The Consortium fears that once proposed PBR Bill is enacted in its current form, the new seed law may trigger price increase and corporate capture of seeds, as well as  country's food system.  The Alliance argues that government through the Seed Control  Certification Institute SCCI  has never presented the actual changes...
Read more

ZAMBIA LISTED AMONG 34 COUNTRIES WORLDWIDE THAT EXPERIENCED DIGITAL AUTHORITATIVE RULE

Image
  By Alfonso Kasongo  The shutdown of internet to block access to social media during the 2021 general election has earned Zambia a slot among 34 countries worldwide that experienced digital authoritative rule last year. According to a research conducted by Keep It On ,182 internet shutdowns from 34 countries were last year recorded and are documented. Sadly 19 of the 34 countries are African countries, an indication of the return of the digital authoritatism. The report  discloses that the Zambian authorities shutdown the Internet during the the tight 2021 general election to block access to social media platforms which  include among others WhatsApp, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.   The report however ,suggests that the country experienced digital authoritative rule which undermined the democracy of the country.    It further notes with pleasure that the shut down was fought swiftly by Chapter One Foundation through the court of law and that the Hi...
Read more

ZAMBIA'S CLIMATE FINANCING UTILISATION LACKS TRANSPARENCY, ACCOUNTABILITY

Image
ZAMBIA'S CLIMATE FINANCING UTILISATION LACKS TRANSPARENCY,  ACCOUNTABILITY ...hence prone to corruption risks,posing threats against building climate change resilience, TIZ report reviews. By Alfonso Kasongo Zambia's quest to remain climate change resilient might veer off course, if gaps such as weak climate regulatory frameworks, corruption risks and lack of transparency in the management of climate financing remain unaddressed. Ànd tackling of how the country supports mitigation and adaptation to climate change remain critical to building resilience to the worst effects. Climate resilient is generally defined as successfully copying with and managing the impacts of climate change while preventing those impacts from growing worse. This year's unprecedented global temperatures and stark devastating of climate change stress the urgency requirement for Zambia and many other countries to build climate resilience, hence the need for strong regulatory framework and transparency ...
Read more