Anjali Sharma
GG News Bureau
UNITED NATIONS, 7th Feb. World health agency on Tuesday said that cholera cases are rising globally and there’s been an unprecedented spike in Africa.
Dr. Fiona Braka from WHO regional office in Brazzaville, Congo, said that eastern and southern Africa have been particularly badly affected.
It stated that 10 African countries reported over 26,000 cases and 700 deaths, which is double the number reported last year over the same period.
Dr. Braka said Zambia and Zimbabwe have been worst hit, but Mozambique, Tanzania, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia and Nigeria are in the grip of “active outbreaks”, with a high risk of further spread.
“We will continue to see records being broken as long as people do not have access to clean water and sanitation facilities,” she explained.
“Cholera is preventable and treatable. No one is no longer should die from it.”
WHO reiterated that increased flooding associated with climate change has helped the spread of cholera, a preventable waterborne disease.
More cyclones and droughts have also reduced access to clean water, creating an ideal environment for cholera to thrive, it said.
WHO supports inoculation drives in Zambia where over 1.7 million people have been vaccinated.
A campaign is also underway in Zimbabwe, which expects to provide protection to 2.3 million people despite a global shortage of oral cholera vaccines.
WHO has deployed over 100 medical experts and dispatched emergency supplies to affected areas in Zambia and Zimbabwe.
Over 30 tonnes of emergency supplies have already been delivered to both countries, including cholera kits and rehydration salts, with more assistance on the way, WHO added.
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