President HH Calls to Reject Witchcraft and Embrace Vaccines

President Hakainde Hichilema has made a bold call to abandon beliefs in witchcraft and instead trust in vaccines, which he says have saved millions of lives.

Speaking at the World Health Organization's 75th session in Geneva, President Hichilema described himself as "a liberated soul" and "an African who does not believe in witchcraft."

"Vaccines have saved millions of lives," he told delegates. "Superstitions around vaccines, narratives that were basically driven to scaremonger families and health systems away from vaccines only lead to more deaths unnecessarily."

The president, who serves as the Southern African Development Community's Cholera Control Champion, drew on his own political experience to make his point. He revealed that his UPND party had defeated opponents who "received a lot of medical support in witchcraft" during national elections.

President  Hichilema highlighted Africa's heavy dependence on vaccine imports, noting the continent produces less than one percent of its vaccine needs. He announced ambitious targets to reach 60% domestic vaccine production by 2040.

"We have a very nauseating habit of always looking to someone to solve our problems," he said, calling for greater African self-reliance while maintaining international cooperation.

The president cited the country’s success in rapidly increasing COVID-19 vaccination rates from 5% to 70% within four months as an example of what focused leadership could achieve.

During the same event, President Hichilema officially launched the Continental Cholera Outbreak Response Plan, urging fellow African leaders to establish presidential taskforces on cholera control.

He emphasised that cholera is "primarily a water and sanitation challenge" requiring coordination between health, water, sanitation, and finance ministries.

The WHO Director-General, Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, welcomed President Hichilema's initiative to establish cholera vaccine production in Zambia.