On 3rd January 2011, PF President Michael Sata wrote to President Banda following his wife's treatment in South Africa arranged by the Zambian government. He expressed "profound gratitude" to President Banda for "the consideration, compassion and care extended to [Christine Kaseba] during the period of her illness and stay at Milpark Hospital". Mr Sata was particularly "pleased to see that [Christine Kaseba's] life was saved due to the government's prompt action to evacuate her".
The action by President Banda to evacuate Christine Kaseba clearly created difficulties for Mr Sata because it meant Mr & Mrs Sata owed their lives to two separate taxpayer funded evacuations at expensive hospitals in South Africa. All down to the MMD government's policy of foreign evacuations for the political elite. A point Mr Sata could not resist to underline in his "letter of thanks" to President Banda :
"I would like to re-state my long held view about access to specialist treatment abroad. I said it after my return from South Africa in April 2008 following my heart condition that our government must invest in this area both in terms of human capital and equipment so that access to such specialist treatment does not continue to be a preserve of the privileged few in our country. It is, therefore, my considered view Your Excellency that health care must become a human right by law for our people and not a privilege after 46 years of independence".
President Banda responded to Mr Sata on 14th January, 2011, accepting thanks and underlining his belief that "the good values of humanity should rise above political belief and persuasion when we are faced with matters of human life". However, he "found it rather disappointing that [Mr Sata] decided to mix the issue of gratitude and the shortfalls of our health care system in Zambia". In his view, "the issue surrounding the evacuation of [Christine Kaseba] was an emergency which should ordinarily not be confused with the issue of ...
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