HH Speaks At The Launch Of The Africa Centres for Disease Control 'Saving Lives And Livelihoods' Initiative

Fellow citizens,

We were delighted and honoured to be part of the forum at the launch of the Africa Centres for Disease Control 'Saving Lives And Livelihoods' initiative for Southern Africa, that took place today at the Mulungushi International Conference in Lusaka.

This Covid - 19 Vaccine Intervention launch covers 10 countries in Southern Africa, and is in collaboration with the Master Card Foundation and Regional implementing partners, including, the Zambia Red Cross, Lesotho Red Cross, Amref Africa, AKROS, UNICEF, World Food Programme(WFP) the US CDC and WHO.

The partnership aims at accelerating the vaccination rate towards the 70% threshold of the population in the Southern Africa Regional Coordination Centre (RCC) catchment area, and subsequently lay the foundation for the entire Continent of Africa.

We informed the conference to mobilise, work with and partner with our young people who constitute over 65% of the Continent's population as their engagement has the potential to be a game changer in the fight against the Covid 19 pandemic.

We expressed our profound gratitude to Africa CDC and Mastercard Foundation, for this enabling partnership that will allow us to stand on our own two feet and safeguard our citizens health.

Hakainde Hichilema,

President of the Republic of Zambia.