THOSE who have travelled to South Africa without a Yellow Fever Certificate know how inconveniencing it can be to be sent back at the border for travelling without a yellow book.
Cross-border traders also recollect the hassle they went through as they tried to secure Yellow Book Certificates, some of them were not even genuine.
The story is not that scary anymore, because the Zambian Government recently agreed with both South Africa and Botswana to allow Zambians travel to the two countries without yellow fever certificates.
The move has elated cross-border traders who have welcomed it saying it is a huge boost to business in the Southern African region.
Traders are justified to say that a good number of business persons had previously suffered harassment for forgetting to carry yellow fever certificates.
That harassment surely was a hindrance to the smooth flow of trade especially that South Africa is the most preferred destination for Zambian traders.
Health Minister Joseph Kasonde announced that recent scientific studies by the World Health Organisation (WHO) revealed that Zambia had low Yellow Fever potential exposure status.
In accordance with the WHO International Health Regulations, fellow fever vaccinations were not recommended in such cases, and the ministry informed South Africa and Botswana who have since agreed to waive the requirement.
Apart from the inconvenience caused by that requirement, traders and visitors to those countries were at times, forced to risk buying fake certificates.
The waiver is also a relief because traders were made to pay exorbitantly for vaccination in order to obtain the certificate.
We, therefore, thank Government for addressing the problem and in turn urge cross-border traders to take advantage of the situation by boosting their businesses.
South Africa is Zambia’s leading source market for international arrivals, accounting for around 20.1 per cent of total arrivals in 2013.