By Eunice Disi Lole

Lilongwe, February 2, Mana: Heads of State for the Southern African Development Community (SADC) have on Friday endorsed recommendations for Ministers of Health on measures to be put in place by the region in addressing Cholera outbreak.

The endorsement was made during a virtual extraordinary Summit of SADC heads of state, in which President of the Republic of Malawi Dr Lazarus Chakwera was in attendance.

In his opening remarks, Executive Secretary for SADC, Elias Magosi emphasized on the need for member states to develop and implement a multi-sectoral approach in order to address Cholera cases.

In his remarks, President of the Republic of Angola who is also Chairperson for SADC, Joao Manuel Goncalves Lourenco said Cholera outbreak required urgent regional approach to be dealt with.

Lourenco said good health remains a human capital, which is essential in achieving regional development aspirations.

He then asked SADC member states to commit themselves in strengthening health systems and to come up with solid emergency plans in case of outbreaks; besides scalling up human resource and strong early warning systems and surveillance.

Lourenco said the region needs innovation in the pharmaceutical sector and strong technological surveillance in all border posts.

He expressed optimism that unity in the region will help put any outbreak to an end, stressing that the region has, in the recent years, dealt with emergencies through collective efforts.

Under the recommendations for Ministers of Health on the measures to put in place in addressing Cholera outbreak, member states have been urged to jointly plan and implement synchronised cross border Cholera vaccination campaigns and mobilize vaccines for affected and non-affected countries and report to council annually.

In addition to that, increased investment in current Cholera emergency response whilst maintaining long-term investment for a sustainable solution to the recurrent Cholera crises has been emphasized.

Furthermore, member states have been urged to develop and implement climate-resilient water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) and disaster risk reduction programmes to prevent future Cholera outbreaks.

SADC member states have equally been advised to accelerate local and regional manufacturing of Cholera vaccines to scale up production and increase access to commodities such as Oral Rehydrating Solutions (ORS) and Cholera beds and to improve control on the supply chain security and accelerate technology and knowledge transfer, among other things.

The summit commended Africa CDC, WHO, UNICEF and WFP for the technical and Financial support towards cholera response in the region.

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