IT is no secret that Zambia is facing inarguably its worst public health crisis in recent times following the latest outbreak of cholera in Lusaka.
More than 50 people have died so far from more than 2,000 cases of the epidemic since the outbreak in October last year. These figures are concerning, especially given the demonstrated potential for the crisis to grow into a Zambian pandemic.
In the last few weeks, cholera cases have been reported in other parts of the country; in such distant locations from Lusaka as Chipata and other parts of Eastern Province where the numbers of those infected have been growingly steadily.
The vastly-populated Copperbelt has recorded several cases of the disease as well, causing local authorities to swing into action to stop its spread.
Why, even the traders of the Kitwe’s Chisokone market, notorious for their feisty resistance to any efforts to leave the eyesore they trade in so it can be renovated seem to have been muted into obedience by reports of the high number of casualties from the outbreak.
Yesterday, they allowed council front-end loaders to take away piles of timber from demolished stalls around the market and to begin the grim task of resolving the perennially blocked drainage around the sprawling trading place.
It could be a long fight resolving this latest visitation by a disease that has never been too far away from many of our communities, given their appalling sanitary state.
While the government and its cooperating partners are struggling to contain the impact of the outbreak on the affected populations, there are genuine concerns about its economic impact on a large number of citizens.
A sizeable sector of the urban and rural population that makes a living from trading in overpopulated, unwholesome markets and roadside stalls vending fresh foods is already feeling the pinch. The drastic measures taken to shut down trading places and mowing down illegally constructed street stalls have left many homes with no means of income.
These are all painful measures but necessary to the success of the campaign to stop the spread of cholera.
It seems, however, that not everybody is pulling their full weight.
Social media is awash with video clips of fruit and vegetable vendors emerging from nowhere to set up their wares on the roadsides in even the most seriously affected communities as soon as the security personnel deployed to support the campaign have left.
There are also reports of churches insisting on holding normal services in breach of a well-publicised ban on gatherings of more than five persons in all the communities identified as the most affected.
It seems that to some men of the cloth, the lure of Sunday offerings is more important than the lives of the people bearing these gifts.
This is a most frustrating development and might call for the government to take yet sterner measures against those who fail to grasp the life-and-death nature of the situation at hand.
It might be a good idea for the authorities to make an example of those so inclined by prosecuting a few of them.