The heads of state of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) are meeting this Friday (2) in an extraordinary summit to analyze the cholera epidemic affecting the region.

"The extraordinary summit will, among other things, receive and consider the report on the cholera situation in some member states, the state of readiness of SADC member states and the responses to cholera outbreaks in member states," reads the communiqué, quoted by AIM.

The summit, which will take place virtually, will be chaired by SADC's president-in-office, Angolan head of state João Lourenço, and comes at a time when several SADC member states are experiencing one of the most severe cholera outbreaks in the region.

The fight against cholera is in line with the African regional framework for implementing the global strategy for the prevention and control of cholera, 2018-2030.

This framework supports the new global strategy to combat cholera at the national level, providing a definitive path towards a world in which cholera no longer poses a threat to public health.

Cholera is an acute form of diarrhea that, without treatment, can kill in a few hours and is transmitted by contaminated water or food.

Zambia, one of the most affected countries in the southern African region, has reported more than 500 deaths from the disease since October 2023.

The extraordinary SADC summit will be preceded by the extraordinary meeting of the SADC Committee of Ministers of Health, with the technical support of the World Health Organization (WHO), UNICEF for Eastern and Southern Africa and the African Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC Africa) and an extraordinary session of the SADC Council of Ministers.