Zambia News

Zambia continues to experience outbreaks of communicable diseases such anthrax, cholera, chickenpox, dysentery, measles, rabies and typhoid and is also vulnerable to natural disasters such as droughts and floods. It shares borders with 8 countries and faces the risk of importation of other diseases. More recently, WHO classified Zambia to be at very high risk of importation of the Ebola Virus Disease from the Democratic Republic of Congo as a result of the ongoing outbreak in North Kivu and Ituri provinces.

Zambia has been classified by the World Health Organisation to be at very high risk of importation of cases of Ebola virus disease (EVD) from the ongoing epidemic of the disease in the Democratic Republic of the Congo due to the heightened transmission of the virus in North Kivu and Ituri provinces. The WHO Regional Office for Africa is therefore supporting the 10 countries bordering the DRC to heighten vigilance by strengthening capacity for preventing, detecting, investigating and responding quickly to potential Ebola threats.

The outbreak of Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) in Beni, North Kivu province poses a risk of the disease spreading beyond the borders of the country to its neighboring countries including Zambia.

Zambia is one of the three countries that have been selected for piloting the 3rd edition of the Technical Guidelines for Integrated Disease Surveillance and Response (IDSR) for the WHO African Region.

The WHO Country Office in collaboration with the Ministry of Health convened a meeting to engage parliamentarians in a discussion on how they could support and contribute to the implementation of the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (WHO/FCTC). The meeting which took place on 27 June 2018 at parliament buildings in Lusaka was intended to raise awareness on the WHO/ FCTC and the WHO/ FCTC 2030 project including Zambia’s obligation to align its domestic tobacco control legislation with the requirements of the treaty.

The Cholera outbreak in Zambia which started in October 2017 has now been brought under control and in the next two weeks, the country is likely be declared cholera free. The Minister of Health, Dr. Chitalu Chilufya, said this at a joint media briefing held on May 17 where he made a comprehensive presentation on the Cholera situation and the next steps the country would take towards its elimination. The briefing was jointly conducted with the Minister of Local Government, Mr. Vincent Mwale, the Minister for Water Development, Sanitation and Environmental Protection, Dr.

On 24 March Zambia joined the rest of the world to focus on how best to defeat Tuberculosis, (TB), an old disease that can be prevented and treated, but continues to afflict and kill many people. TB is a major public health problem in Zambia and is the commonest opportunistic infection among people living with HIV. The Ministry of Health took the lead in forging a strong partnership with various stakeholders to advocate for intensified actions to eliminate TB in the country under the theme “Wanted: Leaders for a TB-Free world”.

In response to the influx of refugees from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) into Luapula province, the WHO Country Office is working in collaboration with the Ministry of Health to strengthen disease surveillance in order to reduce the risk of spread of communicable diseases. The WHO Representative, Dr.