President Hakainde Hichilema of Zambia urged the population to move from towns to rural areas in the wake of a cholera epidemic that has claimed the lives of more than 300 individuals.
Rural areas have more space and less congested, thus having "perfect sanitation" which is necessary to fight the disease, Zambia's President Hakainde Hichilema said, cited by the media.
Cholera thrives in certain densely populated urban areas with inadequate sanitation, he added.
Moreover, on Wednesday, the president visited the national cholera treatment center Heroes Stadium. He assured that the "government will do its part" to fight cholera but reminded that Zambians should "maintain hygiene at personal and household level."
"Fellow Zambians, time for action to completely obliterate this disease is now. We appeal to all citizens to play their part. Some of the measures government will introduce will be hard to swallow but will be necessary if this disease is to be eradicated," Hichilema said.
Another important way to combat the disease is vaccination.
Sunday will mark the delivery of one million doses of cholera vaccine from the World Health Organization to Zambia, Roma Chilengi, the president's health advisor, announced in an interview with the state-run media. The vaccines, he continued, will be administered to communities that are at an elevated risk of contracting cholera.
Cholera is a severe diarrheal infection caused by ingestion of food or water contaminated with the bacterium Vibrio cholerae. The disease can lead to intense and rapid watery diarrhea, and if not treated promptly, the severe forms of the illness can be fatal within a matter of hours.