Cholera Resurfacing Globally After Years Of Decline

\News Desk

Geneva: In a new alert, the World Health Organisation (WHO) and UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) said that more countries now face cholera outbreaks, increasing numbers of cases are being reported, and the outcome for patients is worse than 10 years ago.

UN health experts have warned that cholera, a 19th-century disease, may be making a devastating comeback after years of decline.

UNICEF Public Health Emergency Unit Head Jerome Pfaffmann Zambruni said, “The pandemic is killing the poor right in front of us.”

According to WHO data, 15 nations have reported instances by May of last year but by mid-May of this year, just four countries have done so. “We already have 24 countries reporting and we anticipate more with the seasonal shift in cholera cases,” said WHO Worldwide Cholera Response Incident Manager Henry Grey.

Despite advances in illness control made in recent decades, we run the risk of regressing. The UN health agency estimates 43 countries and one billion people are at risk of cholera, with young children being most vulnerable.

Cholera’s extraordinarily high mortality ratio is also alarming. This year, case fatality rates in Malawi and Nigeria reached 3 per cent, well over the permissible level of 1 per cent.

South-eastern Africa is particularly badly affected, with infections spreading in Malawi, Mozambique, South Africa, Tanzania, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.

The development follows the destructive passage of Cyclone Freddy in February and March this year, leaving 800,000 people in Malawi and Mozambique internally displaced and disrupting healthcare.

Cholera, a disease that may be prevented but flourishes in regions that see frequent heavy rains and flooding, poses a serious threat to these vulnerable communities. The two UN agencies concurred that the disease had expanded as a result of a deadly combination of climate change, underinvestment in water, sanitation, and hygiene services, and, in certain cases, armed conflict.

Cholera vaccinations are available, but there aren’t enough of them to meet the rising demand. Only eight million of the 18 million vaccination doses that were requested globally have been made available, according to the WHO.

“Increasing production is not an overnight solution,” said Grey. “The plan is to double the production of doses by 2025 but we won’t have enough if the current trend continues. A vaccine is a tool but not an overall solution. Long-term investment in water sanitation is the priority,” Henry added.

To respond to the growing cholera threat, WHO is launching a 12-month Strategic Preparedness, Response, and Readiness Plan, requiring $160 million, alongside UNICEF’s Call to Action for $480 million. The combined cholera response plan will cover 40 countries in acute crisis.

It will include coordination, infection surveillance and prevention, vaccination, treatment, and water, sanitation, and hygiene. The two UN agencies work closely together. “We need the funds to do what we need to do,” Incident Manager Henryfurther stated.