By JAJAH COULIBALY and CHUSA SICHONE –
THE Ministry of Health has disclosed that 29 new suspected cases of cholera have been recorded from various townships in Lusaka.
In a statement availed to the Times, Ministry of Health Head of Communications & External Relations Stanslous Ngosa said 22 cases were reported on December 13 and seven reported on December 14.
“Of the new cases, fourteen were from Chipata, 12 from Kanyama, one from Matero and two from Chawama,” he said.
Mr Ngosa said there were currently 57 cases under treatment, of which 20 were at Matero, 18 in  Kanyama, 14 from Chipata, four in Chawama and one in Bauleni.
The cumulative number of cases handled within Lusaka district now stood at 760 with 20 deaths recorded.
“The Ministry has heightened provision of chlorine, health promotion and working with stakeholders in improving access to clean and safe drinking water,” he said.
Public health authorities had also continued to bury shallow wells and decontaminated pit latrines alongside an on-going sensitisation programme using various media platforms and door-to-door.
He said the first approach was to put up a sensitisation campaign through the media and posters especially in public places with the second being the partnership with the Ministry of health and the Lusaka City Council (LCC).
“The third is resources mobilisation, as you can see, after the launch of the partnership on Thursday and first story in the paper on Friday, we have well-wishers come on board in barely 24 hours,” he said.
He said the fourth approach was the physical cleanup which would involve the donation of fuel to LCC to be used in garbage collecting trucks.
LCC said it was grateful for the gesture extended by the Times and the Makeni Islamic Welfare as the fight against Cholera was a mammoth task which should not be left to the council alone.
LCC Public Health Assistant Director Edgar Mulwanda said the material donated by the two organisations would go a long way in the fight against cholera.
“So the coming on board of the two institutions Times and Makeni Islamic Welfare is a big boost to our efforts in this fight and we are looking forward to more,” he said.
Approximately 761 cases of cholera had been recorded since the outbreak with 22 deaths so far. Meanwhile, Patriotic Front (PF) youths in Lusaka have joined forces with the LCC and the District Commissioner’s office to keep the city clean.
The PF youths, led by their provincial chairperson Kennedy Kamba, Lusaka District Commissioner Davison Mulenga, officials from the LCC public health department and joined by traders, started the cleaning exercise with the Central Business District.
In line with the council’s directive, the cleaning exercise, which started in the morning, also led to traders found operating restaurants and dealing in perishables being ordered to stop.
Mr Kamba said in an interview that more than 2000 youths in Lusaka had been engaged in the cleaning exercise, which was aimed at supplementing the LCC’s efforts to rid the CBD of waste.
“We are happy that this project is a success and we want to even go to other constituencies in the district so that even next week or maybe after next week we can go to Matero, we clean Matero, the other week we go to Chawama,” Mr Kamba said.