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Health department needs more funds

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Authorities in Mpulungu have appealed to the Ministry of Health to consider releasing additional funds to the department of health for the purpose of combating the cholera outbreak in the district.

Mpulungu District Commissioner, Willie Simfukwe, said currently the district health office has run out of funds following the cholera outbreak in September, this year.

Mr. Simfukwe revealed that funds sent to the department of health for operations have been diverted towards efforts aimed at combating cholera in the district.

He told ZANIS in Kasama that health personnel were now depending on goodwill from other partners in order to curb the cholera outbreak, which has claimed four (4) lives so far.

Mr. Simfukwe lamented that it would be difficult for health staff to effectively combat cholera in communities in the absence of utility funds.

He explained that the health personnel were working on what he termed as ‘voluntary basis’ due to lack of motivation.

The DC, however, thanked Northern Province Health Director, Dr. Fabian Kabulubulu, for dispatching medical staff from Kasama and Mbala to assist in containing the cholera outbreak in Mpulungu, which has affected over 400 people.

Mr. Simfukwe said as a result of the beefed-up staff, cholera cases have been brought under control as only few cases of the disease were being reported to health centres.

Meanwhile, health personnel in Mpulungu have started disinfecting long-distance buses entering and leaving the town in a bid to prevent cholera from spread to other areas.

The passengers are being asked to disembark from mini-buses and luxury coaches in order to foot-step on cholera treated reed-mats as a way of containing the infectious disease.

Mpulungu is one of cholera prone areas in Northern Province, mainly due to poor water supply and sanitation

ZANIS/ENDS/WS/EB

13 COMMENTS

  1. Why always talk about cholera each and every year! We have non-functional systems for town planning targeted at how well cities/towns are planned. Councils have stopped community educational programmes and they do not seem to have anything to do. Of course it cannot always be money issues all the time. At least an annual construction of 2 km of drainage system cannot be a bad idea as it could help remove a lot of stagnant water. Or an annual purchase of 2000 boxes of chlorine (each @ 8pin) would go a long long way. Do you need the president to intervene in such small issues?

  2. “Authorities in Mpulungu have appealed to the Ministry of Health to consider releasing additional funds to the department of health for the purpose of combating the cholera outbreak in the district.”

    the department needs more workers also.

  3. THE PEOPLE OF MPULUNGU SHOULD KNOW THAT THERE IS NO WAY CHOLERA WILL BE COMBATED IN MPULUNGU WITH MMD IN POWER THAT IS SIMPLY NOT THEIR PRIORITY, SO CONGARTS FOR VOTING RB AND MMD, CONTINUE YOUR FIGHT WITH CHOLERA! NO MATTER HOW MUCH MEDICAL SUPPLIES AND WORKERS YOU GET( THAT IS IF YOU EVER GET THEM! ) MINUS IMPROVING WATER SUPPLY AND SANITATION YOU REMAIN A CHOLERA ENDEMIC ZONE GOOD LUCK!

  4. All PF cadres should go to Mpulungu to go and fight cholera instead of talking about RB.Show yo community response now what are you fearing to be swallowed by cholera.Cholera is found in water take your boat there and drink all the water cholera will finish.Even when Kapwepwe was Vice president of this country cholera was there.Kaunda is from Chinsali during his reign there was cholera there.Why did you not talk abot cholera when kafupi was president just because he was yo brother.Mwe ba fyonono learn to keep queit.

  5. How one can proudly boast that when Kapwepwe and Kaunda were leading “cholera was there”, is beyond me. It is a complete and utter shame that cholera is still a problem for Zambia in the 21st century bane. If all that the MMD can do is look to the past and announce that cholera existed even before their rise to power, then they need to step aside and allow individuals who are going to look forward and develop programs that will eradicate it. Cholera is a constant every season, and yet our leadership behaves as though they haven’t had the time to effectively plan and address it. We need to hold ourselves and our leaders to much higher standard.

  6. #7 i can see you have stopped thinking.poverty levels are high in the country and that is food for cholera.be helpfull dont just insult.

  7. Cholera epidemics started in MMD era. In 1992 a lot of people died from cholera especially in Copperbelt and Lusaka provinces. Since that time cholera is a household name and people seem not to be bothered about eradicating it. Cholera is now endemic in almost all parts of the country

  8. Govt please why not have an epidemic preparedness team for such eventualities and funds allocated to this group.Finances to be used whenever there is an outbreak.Its not in order for a health board to combat an outbreak like cholera using the grant allocated to it.Act accordingly

  9. #7 grow up and give us constructive criticism, this not about RB as an individual or PF, but about MMD and RB as the now new leader! #8 is right on, we cannot condone cholera in this time and age it is one problem that can be dealt with for good, if there was the political will. CHILUBA and MMD campaigned on this issue IN 1991 I very much remember those rallies in freedom park (KT) people shouting UNIP=CHOLERA! THE HOPE OF THE PEOPLE THEN WAS THAT WITH MMD COMING TO POWER THIS WOULD BE A THING OF UNIP days, but 17 years DOWN THE LINE cholera is still here! and claiming lives SHAME!, some thing needs to be done! BY THE POWERS THAT BE.

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