Luanda: Angolan president and the African Union, Joo Louren§o, admitted on Wednesday in Luanda that cholera is much more than a health emergency and represents a major obstacle to Africa’s economic, social, and human development. The Head of State made the statement at an emergency meeting on the cholera situation in Africa, an initiative of Zambian President Hakainde Hichilema, who is the African Union’s champion for cholera.
According to Angola Press News Agency, the high-level meeting was held virtually and was organized by Africa-CDC, the African Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the African Union’s public health agency created to strengthen health institutions on the continent and to deal with disease threats. President Joo Louren§o emphasized that Africa today faces a challenge that requires not only immediate action but also a strategic and sustained vision for the future of the continent.
However, he said, the disease also opens up unique opportunities to solve long-standing structural problems through innovative and sustainable solutions, such as investing in adequate water, sanitation, and public health infrastructure. Louren§o stated that this commitment will not only save lives but also generate concrete economic and financial gains, laying a solid foundation for healthier, more resilient, and more prosperous societies.
The Angolan president noted that tackling cholera means investing heavily in these essential infrastructures, seizing the moment to transform historical challenges into real opportunities for economic and social development. He stressed that this fight cannot be won with immediate measures alone, as it requires a strategic, integrated, and lasting approach. ‘It is possible to control this disease with a rapid, integrated, and coordinated response; with political commitment and concerted action, we can defeat cholera,’ Louren§o said.
The meeting, which was attended by the Director-General of the World Health Organization, Ethiopian Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, served to take stock of the cholera outbreak currently affecting numerous African countries, with the highest incidence in four nations, namely Sudan, South Sudan, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and Angola. Various heads of state who took part in the proceedings, including F©lix Tshisekedi of the DRC, Netumbo Ndaitwah of Namibia, John Dramani of Ghana, and Lazarus Chakwera of Malawi, were unanimous in admitting that the resurgence of cholera as an epidemic in Africa is the result of decades of underinvestment in health, water, sanitation, and hygiene infrastructure and that the continent ‘should not accept cholera as normal.’
In the view of the leaders gathered Wednesday to discuss the state of cholera in Africa, it is imperative that the cradle of humanity equip itself with the capacity to accelerate local production of vaccines and essential supplies, since ‘this is no longer the time to wait for external aid.’