Zambia and China signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on Monday to establish Zambia’s inaugural cholera vaccine manufacturing plant.
The initial phase of the project will require $37 million, and a joint venture between Zambia’s Industrial Development Corporation (IDC) and Jijia International Medical Technology Corporation is expected to produce about three million doses.
President Hakainde Hichilema, speaking during the agreement’s signing ceremony at State House in the capital Lusaka, said that this development is a crucial step in the country’s efforts to eliminate the disease, which hampers citizens’ productivity.
Hichilema also stressed the importance of the collaboration, adding that the country will become a manufacturing hub for commercial quantities of the vaccine for Africa’s rapidly growing population
He noted that China will donate approximately three million doses of the cholera vaccine before manufacturing commences.
Zambia faced a significant cholera outbreak this year, resulting in the deaths of over 400 individuals and the infection of more than 10,000, prompting authorities to keep schools closed across the country after the end-of-year holidays.