First Lady Maureen Mwanawasa says Malaria should be given the same attention as HIV and AIDS.
Mrs. Mwanawasa says Malaria like HIV and AIDS requires the concerted efforts of all stakeholders.
Speaking when she unveiled the Billboard on Malaria and HIV and flagging off of the “Race against malaria in commemoration of the World Malaria Day, Mrs. Mwanawasa said people have taken Malaria for granted.
Mrs. Mwanawasa said the prevalence of Malaria has increased the Mother-to-child transmission of HIV and AIDS.
And speaking at the same function, Lusaka Province Minister Lameck Mangani said government will not rest until malaria is completely eradicated in the country.
He observed that Malaria has since reduced because of interventions that the Ministry of Health through National Malaria Control Centre (NMCC) has put in place.
Meanwhile, Special World Health Organisation (WHO) envoy on Malaria Princess Astrid of Belgium has arrived in Zambia.
The Princes on arrival called on Africa to continue investing in awareness programmes on Malaria.
She said there is need to combat Malaria, which is claiming millions of lives in Africa.
Princess Astrid of Belgium was speaking shortly after arriving at Livingstone Airport.
The princess is accompanied by Africa’s Ambassor on Malaria, Yvonne Chaka Chaka of South Africa.
Chaka Chaka said Africa needs to step up the efforts to eradicate Malaria.
The two were received by Southern Province Permanent Secretary, Darius Hakayobe, Livingstone Mayor, Grace Shafik and other senior Government officials.
Roll Back Malaria Executive Director, Awa Marie Coll-Seck said it is important to eradicate malaria as it accounts of 90 percent of the deaths in Africa.
nice sunglasses ba moleeeny
Malaria and HIV??????????
She looks like Queen Latifah…
Zambia’s next president! ha ha
“Malaria should be given the same attention as HIV and AIDS… Malaria like HIV and AIDS requires the concerted efforts of all stakeholders.”
In what sense and to what extent?
Malaria is a disease while HIV is a virus and AIDS is a syndrome.
Thats a First Lady right there..
#5 Hhe he he..I think the joke is on you in your overzealous mode to ridicule the First Lady’s knowledge.Nowhere did she come close to claiming that those three conditions were one and the same.I believe she was merely emphasising the need to give urgent and vigorous attention to malaria prevention as we have to the others because indeed malaria is one of tropical africa’s consistent and vicious killers. It is an attention that has been raised at many international Health forums as YOU should know. Like it was pointed out many Zambians take Malaria for granted because it has hounded us forever. The first lady said nothing wrong. Wow those are cool shades, i wonder if they are D&G’s?
#5
It doesn’t matter. Malaria, HIV and AIDS have one thing in common – they Kill. So what is your objection ?
A good discussion going on at BBC. I see Zambians in contribution.Thank you guys for helping position Zambia among nations represented.
Go to BBC under “Have Your Say) thread.
Subject: Are titles really important?
Uganda’s former ruler Idi Amin Dada gave himself the titles:His Excellency, President for Life, Field Marshal Al Hadji Doctor, Lord of All the Beasts of the Earth and Fishes of the Seas, the Last King of Scotland and Conqueror of the British Empire in Africa in General and Uganda in Particular.
For some people titles, be they academic, professional, inherited or conferred are very important part of who they are, and omitting them can cause great offence.
In Nigeria, it is not only fashionable to have several titles, but some give you more status and influence than others. Apparently, to be ”somebody” you need to be a chief or at least hold a doctorate.
It certainly isn’t just a Nigerian phenomenon, individuals across Africa are known to buy or take on titles that will boost their academic or social standing.
Are you impressed by titles or people who have letters after their names? What do titles say about you? Do you think people put unnecessary emphasis on titles? If you had
has she now become the minister of health?
I was shocked at the length some political scums can go to just for “muzungu ani konde” gesturing. Satamashimba has no spine at all, he is work than a “dick’ because at least the life making instrument can harden with excitement of a particular nature. The whole statement of saying the MMD has no other presidential candidate apart from Vera, oh no, Maureen just shows how gutless this man is.
is this some kind of a joke? When Maureen is unveiling a billboard , it becomes news! Dont we have anything news worthy in Zambia? I think there is better things to report as news other than this. And the whole Minister follows blindly to go and UNVEIL A BILL BOARD. Zambia is a Joke
NEXT PRESINDENT IN BANA CHUCHU. LIKE CLINTONS LIKE MWANAWASAS, BUT KUTI CABIPA BA MAUREEN UKUTKA
In what capacity was she talking about AIDS and Malaria? If it was in her own capacity then indeed Zambia is a joke. LT needs to report on issues with substance. LT cant be reporting on a woman going around unveiling billboards and talking about AIDS.Zambia never cease to amaze me, we want to be bootlickers all the way.We just dont have pride. Just because Maureen is unveiling a billboard, a minister has to follow, for what ?I am really disgusted at this posting LT please change the topic.
Where was the Ministry of Health? This sounds like their turf than the so called first lady. Indeed BRRRR in what capacity was she holding this event? By the way do we need to know when a bill board is being unveiled? i have seen this billboard it is not even worth to be on news.Come on Lusaka Times give us something to stimulate our intellect.
Nga mwaumfwa president molleen alelanda ifi, ninshi alikwata bululu supplier wa miti.
#17 …true
Zooona ni pa zed? unveiling a billboard , the first lady has to do it? I think there is very little to do in that country. Ba LT tupeniko limbi ilyashi
LT this is not news
Zambia’s next and first female president. 😀
Half baked, pint sized citizens discussing their imbecility in national development only see as far as the wife of the incumbent as their next leader! How brainwashed can some people become in the sea of national poverty and economic hooliganism?
Irregardless of who issued the statement, the truth is malaria kills over 50,000 Zambians per annum [have to verify the figures though], and no concerted efforts like spraying or fogging are done by the ministry of health or local government (mosquito nets are a joke, some of us are claustrophobic). A country I have been to has health inspectors who do dooor to door checks on plants, pools of water, or any other such things that harbour mosquitoes.This is a serious health issue, and yet we blog about Maureen’s sunglasses and the presidency issue she has since put to rest.
#7,8. I come from “the sweetest town in the nation” where Malaria is very rampart and so I am fully aware of its effects on human life. Kindly re-read my question. I am not in anyway objecting to anything. I am sipmly asking for more information on what the first lady is talikg about.
she has started campaigning for 2011 presidency,lol
hehehehhe #5
revisit your defination of disease.
What do you mean malaria is a disease, Hiv is a virus and AIDS is a syndrome. Diseases have diff causes and complications
Who taught the clinical officers and nurses that a headache is caused by malaria? In most cases when you go to the clinic if you complain of a headache you will be given malaria drugs like croatem or fansidar in addition to brufen or paracetamol. It is very important to conduct an accurate diagnosis of the problem than prescribing malaria drugs whenever a patient complains of a headache. Some of the clinics in rural areas should be equiped with microscopes.
LT, post news on your website and not rubbish. Why didn’t you cover the issue below and I quote:
“PF MPs question decision to grant Indians work permits
By Mwala Kalaluka
Thursday April 24, 2008 [03:00] Print Article Email Article
…ONSHORE Construction Limited, an Indian company, contracted by Konkola Copper Mines (KCM) to work on its smelter project in Chingola may face legal action following public health concerns involving its expatriate workers.
And two Copperbelt Patriotic Front members of parliament have questioned the motive behind the government’s decision to grant temporary work permits to over 600 Indian nationals to work on the smelter project at KCM.
…Chingola council town clerk Charles Sambondu said yesterday that his council was unhappy with Onshore Construction Limited because of the unhealthy manner it had been accommodating its Indian workers.
“This company gets houses in the high cost areas; say Riverside, and the best example is the house opposite the Civic Centre, where 67 people are being accommodated,” Sambondu said. “This is just a threebedroomed house.”
He said despite several cautions, the company had failed to abide by the council’s directives.
“I summoned the management of Onshore and told them that on health grounds, this situation was unacceptable,” Sambondu said. “I warned them of prosecution under the public healt
…He said his officers inspected about five houses in Chingola, where they established that each of them was housing about 60 people.
“People in the neighbourhood have been complaining bitterly. These people are using those hospital pans to answer the call of nature and they dispose them in the drainages,” Sambondu said.
He said he had again sought audience with the company management over the matter.
And Nchanga member of parliament Wilbur Simusa said the employment of casual Indian workers on the smelter project at KCM has had serious social implications in Chingola.
…Simusa said he was concerned that the Immigration Department had agreed to issue temporary permits to the “unskilled” Indian workers, at the expense of qualified locals.
He said before issuing the temporary work permits, the government should have been satisfied that there was no Zambian who could do what the Indians were doing.
He also complained that the behaviour of the Indians left much to be desired.
“I had a meeting with KCM where I complained over the same issues,” Simusa said.
Nkana PF member of parliament Mwenya Musenge said the government should own up and admit that it erred in the manner it issued the permits to the Indian workers.
…“We have been raising this issue in Parliament but the government has been very defensive,” said Musenge.
Immigration Department spokesperson Mulako Mbangweta said the over 300 Indians were issued with temporary work permits.
The more than 300 workers on Monday staged a protest in Chingola to register their displeasure over poor conditions of service and they have called for the government’s intervention.
…Mbangweta said on Tuesday that the Indian nationals were issued with temporary work permits to allow them work on some specialised aspects of the KCM project for a period of three months.
Mbangweta said the issuance of the temporary permits to the Indian workers was done by the Work Permit Committee; which comprise a number of inter-governmental institutions and the Immigration Department.
However, reliable sources told The Post yesterday that the Work Permit Committee did not issue temporary permits.”
…Why must Zambia import labour from India and china?
Anyway here is another quotation:
“Onshore workers ditch Chingola firm …..create jobs for Zambians
By Times Reporter
…TWO hundred and fifty-two Onshore workers have resolved to return to India after a dead-end with their employers over conditions of service.
The voluntary move by the Indians has now created employment for local Zambians who will be recruited to fill the void.
A check yesterday found most of the workers waiting to be dispatched to India.
One of the employees, Subhas Chandra Mallick said 70 per cent of the employees had chosen to go back to India instead of being enslaved by Onshore management.
A rigger, Ryaz Ahmed Khan said the food (chapati) was poorly prepared, while 60 of them were housed in a three-bedroomed guesthouse and were made to share one toilet a bathroom.
…Chingola town clerk, Charles Sambondu said he warned Onshore management in January this year when his council wanted to close down the guesthouses but they promised that they would relocate some of the workers.
He said Onshore management was uncooperative and his council was left with no option but to close down all the houses in question and those for the companies involved in the same vice.
On Monday, over 360 Onshore construction workers protested and opted for an industrial strike to force management to succumb to their demands for better conditions of service.
…Onshore has been contracted by Konkola Copper Mines (KCM) in Chingola to construct the multi-billion Kwacha Nchanga smelter.
Onshore administrative manager, Iyer Ramachandran said yesterday that management had signed agreements with each employee on the conditions of service before coming to Zambia.
Mr Iyer said with the departure of the workers to India, the company would now employ local people to replace them.
Nchanga Member Parliament, Wylbur Simusa demanded an explanation from the ministry of Labour and Social Security on how the workers got their work permits.
But Government said there was nothing wrong with KCM engaging Onshore Contruction Company.
…Labour and Social Security Deputy Minister, Austin Liato said in an interview yesterday that his ministry was only concerned with the long-term investment opportunities that would be created by mining firms and not how they engaged foreign firms to do contractual jobs.
…“We are more concerned with the permanent jobs that the mining companies would create for the local people than how these companies bring in others on contract basis. As a ministry we would want more jobs created for the Zambians by the mining companies and these should be on permanent basis. That is the long-term investment that we are interested in,” Mr Liato said.”
The last quoted paragraph is more interesting and I leave to the bloggership to debate debate the issue. Thanks.
By the way, if the issue of malaria was of great importance we would have been shown the billboard and not D&G immitation from China. But, hats off to the illustrator who guessed right…
By the way, again, there are uncountable billboards in South Africa, Botswana, or Namibia maureen would be spoiled for choice if its for her prsidential campaign.
There is only a government in name only in Zambia. The actions of various government departments reflect absence of a leadership with anything resembling a brain. What exactly are they being paid for that are in the government? This is a real circus and there will be nead to make each one of them accountable for mishandling the nation at all levels.
#13 Blame LT and NOT belittle my country.And how do you judge a country by one website “Lusake Times”. C’mon man u can do better.
Coz of HIV/Aids we startin to forget Malaria, just look at the monies being pumped in by donors and malaria kills more pipo than Aids period.Distibuting mosquito nets is not the only way to combat the problem, its like sayin give pipo condoms and Aids will go away.Research concentrates on Aids now.Why not develop better medication apart from preventive measures.
How readily available are mosquito nets in Zambia and how much do they cost?
Can they cost more than €20.00 (K110,000.00)?
The money that was spent on that Billboard would have been spent on getting more nets and drugs for malaria..get priorities straigth!!!
How much does one average mosquito net cost in Zambia?
Anybody knows?
#45
Around ZMK 40,000.00, and free at some govt antenatal clinics in rural areas.
#3 Nine Chale, I am sure Queen Latifah would feel terribly insulted if she saw your comments and the object of your comparison.
LUSAKA TIMES. This is not NEWS.
LT Admin; I agree with #50.This is not worthy news. This is stuff for TENTAMASHINSHA
If the woman is campaigning then do not put her here. We got much to talk about. Indiscriminate offer of work permits is a serious issue that MPs should grill govt for. Just last month you denied your neighbours’ (Zimbabwe) work permits to load their haul but have given others. This is another way of externalising forex. These contracts are supposed to raise employment levels for Zambians, alas, they seem to defeat their good intentions.
Why is it that we Zambians usually fail to pass this simple test of seperating issues?We`re so engraved and obsessed about tearing each other down that we lose focus of the bigger picture.
Simple fact that we`re debating the effects of malaria means that the Firstlady has fulfilled an awareness mission.Malaria is among the top 3 killer diseases in Zambia and merits to be point of discussion.The question we need to ask ourselves is why is this preventable and cureable disease is still taking alot of Zambian lives.
Politically,Maureen`s arrogance is her major liability but that shouln`t cloud our thinking and stop us from being objective and praise even the little good that she does.
Zambian govt provide employment for your citizens that what most governments do but import skilled human labour which cannot be provided by the locals. You import human labour at the expense of your own people. Why? Thus why corruption will never end in Zambia. If we were to investigate in the issue of Indian labourers you certainly find that corruption play a part in their recruitment. I salute Hon Milupi’s sentiments earlier on about the same issue. Generally, Zambians those who have worked outside Zambia how were you treated? You are given all sorts of names.
In almost every respectable govt nowadays Leaders’ spouses remain proactive on many fronts.In yet other countries some spouses even become part of the inner cabinet if they are not already holding a cabinet portofolio.And many do so because they qualify to meet the challenge.Nancy Reagan was a more than “just say no” first lady.Hillary tackled healthcare reform,and Graca Machel-Mandela held a variety of cabinet posts in her first husband’s govt.The list goes on. Mrs Mwanawasa, as i see it, has become one of the most influential advocates of health issues in our country.I applaude her efforts as we all should.For those cying out loud billboards are but one form of educating.They are universal
sometimes I wonder which part of Zambia most of you guys come from… you guys are filled with so much hate for the Mwanawawasas that you don’t even want to listen and reason. is it Mrs Mwanawawasa who asked LT to follow her and update you on each and every statements she makes? come on guys, this woman also got rights to contribute to society whichever way she wants and tell your LT Admin to stop following her because he is just campaigning on her behalf.
#56 Zulu ukutumpa! Fuma apa. U have eyes but u cant see
#57 Keyser Soze all you are worth are the very curse words spewing from your rotten mouth like a rabbid dog. Yes i have eyes and i can see very well, compared to your obscured vision as if a Bat upsidedown in bright sunlight. And because you view the world around you upside down, you remain myopic and misinformed. Refer back to the topic at hand, that may help you re align with the real world instead of being blindly mad at the world, mad at the Mwanawasas at every turn! Think positive you nincompoop.