Zambia has purchased drugs and other medical kits which will be dispatched to help neighboring Zimbabwe contain cholera which has killed hundreds of people in the country, a senior government official said on Tuesday.

Ministry of Health Spokesperson Dr Canicius Banda said the medical kit, valued at 2 billion Zambian kwacha (approximately US$400,000), is expected to be dispatched to Zimbabwe on Wednesday.

"As I am speaking officials are busy packing these things in trucks and tomorrow (Tuesday) the trucks will be leaving for Zimbabwe," the official said in a special interview broadcast on the privately-owned Radio Phoenix.

The official also disclosed that Zambia will not close its borders with Zimbabwe to prevent Zimbabweans from coming into the country.

"We will not close the borders. If Zimbabweans come into the country and have cholera, we will treat them here--but meanwhile we are also going there to help contain cholera," he added.

Cholera has hit Zimbabwe, which is already undergoing an economic meltdown. The situation has been worsened by the poor health delivery system in Zimbabwe.

The cholera epidemic which hit Zimbabwe in August of last year has so far killed more than 2,000 people with the number of diagnosed cases reaching almost 40,000, the World Health Organization said on Tuesday in Geneva.

(Xinhua News Agency January 14, 2009)