This notorious epidemic that knows no class broke out in October last year and has so far claimed about 80 lives while 3,635 people have been treated.
It is believed that lack of access to clean drinking water and better sanitation are among the factors that ignited the outbreak of cholera in the capital city.
She then explains how the outbreak of cholera in the unplanned settlement has negatively affected the lives of many people due to water shortages and the inadequacies of water infrastructure.
This year, Government has allocated K564.5 million for water and sanitation in the national budget.
According to the National Water and Sanitation Council (NWASCO), access to water supply in urban areas stands at 86 percent, while in rural areas it is at 48 percent.
Daniel Nkhuwa, a geology lecturer in the School of Mines at the University of Zambia, suggested that the capital city should shift from Lusaka to another place where proper city planning will be possible.
He said there is need for a complete uproot of the capital city to some new location whose geology could allow for on-site sanitation system.
Professor Nkhuwa’s presentation was entitled: ‘Is sustainable urban water development and prevention of waterborne diseases attainable in Lusaka under its current sanitation practices?’ While a lot still needs to be done to correct the current situation, especially in Lusaka, efforts on the ground are slowly yielding fruit.
It is for this reason that Ministry of Water Development, Sanitation and Environmental Protection principal engineer for rural water supply and sanitation, Abel Manangi, called on engineers to influence change in the prevention of waterborne diseases through timely advice.
“We hope the team of engineers working with Government will consider re-planning or re-development of cities and slums where disease outbreaks are frequent,” Mr Manangi noted.