The World Health Organisation (WHO) has taken proactive steps in the fight against cholera by allocating $16 million from the WHO Contingency Fund for Emergencies. Dr. Tedros Ghebreyesus, the Director-General of WHO, announced this significant initiative during an online press conference. He highlighted the organisation’s commitment to providing crucial resources, coordinating on-ground responses in collaboration with partners, and supporting countries in detecting, preventing, and treating cholera cases, as well as educating people on preventive measures.
Dr. Ghebreyesus emphasised, “To support this work, we have appealed for 160 million dollars, and we have released more than 16 million dollars from the WHO Contingency Fund for Emergencies. But the real solution to cholera lies in ensuring everyone has access to safe water and sanitation, which is an internationally recognised human right.”
Recent data released by the WHO indicates a worrisome surge in cholera cases in 2022, with reported cases more than doubling compared to 2021. Preliminary data for 2023 suggests that the situation may deteriorate further. In the current year, 28 countries have already reported cholera cases, compared to 16 during the same period in 2022.
Dr. Ghebreyesus identified Ethiopia, Haiti, Iraq, and Sudan as countries currently facing particularly concerning outbreaks. While commendable progress has been made in southern African countries like Malawi, Mozambique, and Zimbabwe, they remain vulnerable as the rainy season approaches.
The most severely impacted regions are often impoverished, lacking access to safe drinking water and sanitation facilities. They also suffer from shortages of oral cholera vaccines and essential supplies, while their healthcare workers are overwhelmed by multiple disease outbreaks and other health emergencies.
Dr. Ghebreyesus also highlighted the concerning trends of COVID-19 as the northern hemisphere approaches winter. Hospitalisations and ICU admissions have risen in the past 28 days, especially in the Americas and Europe, in countries that continue to report such data. Alarmingly, vaccination rates among high-risk groups remain low, with only one-third of the global population having received a booster dose.
While acknowledging that COVID-19 may not pose the same acute crisis as it did two years ago, Dr. Ghebreyesus stressed that it should not be ignored. Countries have invested significant resources in building systems to respond to COVID-19, and these systems must be sustained to protect people, test and treat them for COVID-19, and address other infectious threats.
He emphasised the need to maintain systems for collaborative surveillance, community protection, accessible and scalable healthcare, the availability of countermeasures, and effective coordination to ensure global health security in the face of multiple challenges.