By AUSTIN KALUBA –
MAPALO, a lad of five plays with his friends in muddy and slimy water in Kanyama Township in Lusaka oblivious of the dangers of cholera a disease they do not even know exist.
Nearby, a matronly-looking woman is selling vitumbuwa-fritters and munkoyo occasionally swatting fat green flies that keep on landing on the uncovered food.
A short distance from the open air selling point, an elderly man with steely features sells eggs and other foodstuffs in a bric-a-brac grocery announced as a shop.
The words painted on the grocery in ci-Nyanja Si kulimba ni mabvuto (It is not strength but poverty) explain his sense of survival.
The elderly man who chose to speak on anonymity remembers the Kanyama flood disaster of 1977 which led to a cholera outbreak though he disagrees that it had to do with poor sanitation.
In areas like Kanyama, Georg Township, Misisi, and John Laing small businesses are minuscule with vendors selling mangos, maize on the cob, fritters or charcoal just for survival.
One such survivor is Ms Joana Nkhuwa, a retired waitress who peddles roast cassava and groundnuts at a stand outside a chain of bars straddled on an area of fly-specked pool of dirty water.
Around 18:00 hours, on Sunday 14, which was a Valentine, Ms Nkhuwa returned home and found her six year old girl Faith clutching her stomach.
Soon, the girl doubled over from violent diarrhoea and vomiting and begged for help. The distraught mother did her best, finally summoning assistance from well wishers but by the time they got to the nearby clinic, it was too late: “Her body had lost a lot of water,” a clinical officer grimly announced.
Faith was the first victim of cholera and authorities quickly announced officially that Cholera has broken out in Lusaka’s Kanyama Township, with 13 of the 20 victims already admitted to a treatment centre.
On a good note, this is the first time Lusaka is experiencing a cholera outbreak since 2010.
The Ministry of Health has advised the public to enhance self-hygiene such as washing hands with clean water.
Ministry of Health acting spokesperson Tasila Pitters who confirmed the outbreak said Lusaka Province had recorded 20 cases in Kanyama Township.
She said there was need for the public to avoid unnecessary handshakes and public gatherings during the cholera outbreak period.
Dr Pitters said a cholera treatment centre had been set up at Kanyama health centre for isolation and treatment of cholera patients.
She said an emergency epidemic preparedness committee meeting was held yesterday to respond to the outbreak.
Cholera is an infection of the small intestine by some strains of the bacterium Vibrio cholera. Symptoms may range from mild to severe reactions.
The classic symptom is large amounts of watery diarrhoea that lasts a few days. Vomiting and muscle cramps may also occur. Diarrhoea can be so severe that it leads within hours to severe dehydration and electrolyte imbalance.
This may result in sunken eyes, cold skin, decreased skin elasticity, and wrinkling of the hands and feet. The dehydration may result in the skin turning bluish. Symptoms start two hours to five days after exposure.
And, as the deaths and continuing caseload indicate, the authorities’ response to this preventable, treatable scourge has in most cases proved inadequate.
Authorities and the public have rarely addressed Cholera at a preventive stage but a curative one.
While eventually effective in reducing the fatality rate, the response in most cases is slow to get fully under way, conservative and insufficiently sustained.
It is also frustrating to note that the dry season is not being used for aggressive case tracking — chasing the disease into pockets where it flares, investigating, chlorinating the water source, and mobilizing the community.
“You can’t wait with your arms crossed until the rain falls again,” Mr John Gondwe, a Kanyama resident said. “You have to go after these areas when it is dry to avoid a cholera outbreak.”
True to Mr Gondwe’s words, while the quick response from authorities is impressive, it is also evident that both the government and citizens can do better.
The origin of diseases like cholera, unlike other mysterious viruses like HIV AIDS are known since they are to do with poor sanitation and hygiene.
It is therefore sad to be grappling with water borne disease that has now become synonymous with appearance of rains, mangoes and mushrooms.
In most African societies, hygiene and sanitation leaves much to be desired and was the concern of District Commissioners in colonial Zambia who were incensed by the lack of toilets in many African settlements.
Up to date some people especially in rural areas prefer using the bush to digging a toilet because they think using such a facility has a stigma.
In urban areas, many which are crowded, some irresponsible people throw hygiene considerations to the wind by selling foodstuffs which are not covered.
Worse still some people don’t wash their hands when using the toilet or handling food making days like global hand washing day that falls on 15 October worthwhile in Zambia.
It is really sad that a country that has been independent for half a century is being placed on high alert of cholera prevention activities.
The latest outbreak in Lusaka calls for put all efforts to ensure the figure remains in two figures digits since failure to do this would rapidly double the number or even triple it.
This calls for action which calls for a multi-sectoral approach involving all stakeholders like the ministry, citizens, NGOs and the church to ensure that all necessities are put in place.
Nevertheless, we should bear in mind that with improved sanitation and hygiene, cholera cases in Lusaka and elsewhere can be reduced or even eradicated.
Concerned parties should understand that cholera outbreaks are much less frequent in developed countries where governments have helped to establish water sanitation practices and effective medical treatments.
The United States, for example, used to have a severe cholera problem similar to those in some developing countries in the 1800s.
Zambia should avoid a recurrence of the cholera epidemic that hit Kitwe and Lusaka in the 1990s claiming hundreds of victims many who were buried in a mass grave.
The power is literally in people’s hands.