Cholera outbreak escalates around the world

GENEVA (EFE).— The World Health Organization (WHO) warned yesterday of an escalation of the global cholera outbreak due to the intensification of the effects of climate change, calling for an urgent increase in funding to support the response plans to this health crisis.

“As the effects of climate change intensify, the situation can be expected to worsen unless we act now to boost cholera prevention,” said the head of the WHO cholera team, Philippe Barboza, at a conference press release to the media accredited to the UN in Geneva.

From bad to worse

Barboza warned that, since last January, when this outbreak was classified by the health organization as a grade three emergency, the highest alert level, the situation “has only gotten worse.”

According to data from the UN health agency, between January 2023 and March 2024, at least 824,479 cases of cholera and 5,900 deaths associated with this disease have been recorded in more than thirty countries.

Last March alone, 25,424 new cases of cholera were reported in 16 countries, with “especially alarming” figures in the African and Middle Eastern regions.

Specifically, the frequent droughts and floods that are hitting eastern and central Africa are creating “the perfect storm,” according to the WHO, for cholera outbreaks to flourish in countries in this area such as Ethiopia or Zimbabwe, which only in March They recorded more than 4,000 and 3,500 new cases respectively.

To address this situation, the WHO has allocated more than $16 million to emergency funds for cholera since 2022, in addition to approving a new vaccine on April 15, Euvichol-S, with a more simplified formula, which which could allow an increase in the production of these medications.

However, it warns that its ability to combat this crisis is being “severely hampered” by a lack of funding.

For this reason, the head of the WHO called for “coordinated and immediate” action to address the global cholera situation, since otherwise more lives will be put at risk in the 23 countries that are currently reporting outbreaks.

“Vaccines alone will not solve the problem. “Clean water, sanitation and hygiene are the only sustainable, long-term solutions to end this cholera emergency and prevent future ones,” he assured.

Cholera is an acute intestinal infection that usually spreads through water and food contaminated with the bacteria Vibrio cholerae, often through feces, so it is typical of places with poor hygienic conditions, often areas shaken by conflict or crisis.