The World Health Organisation (WHO) is concerned about the increasing number of cholera cases worldwide, noting 40,900 cases and 775 fatalities in January.
According to a WHO study released on Tuesday, the cases came from 17 countries in four different regions.
The study revealed that the regions affected include Africa, Eastern Mediterranean, the Americas, and South-East Asia Regions. It also noted that Zambia and Zimbabwe have experienced the highest surges, underscoring the ongoing challenge of controlling cholera and the importance of sustained public health efforts.
It went ahead to state that in 2023, cases were reported in 30 countries across five WHO regions, including nine countries that recorded more than 10,000 cases. Also, from January 2023 to January 2024, urgent requests for OCV surged, with 76 million OCV doses requested by 14 countries, while only 38 million doses were available during that period.
The report claims that the lack of oral cholera vaccines (OCV) has continued to hinder efforts to combat the illness globally, and that vaccinations were awaiting replenishment globally. Also, all manufactured up to March 8 would be directed towards requests that had already been approved.
In January 2023, it designated the worldwide cholera outbreak as a grade 3 emergency, the highest internal emergency classification.
It stated that the WHO has continued to evaluate the danger on a worldwide scale in light of the number of outbreaks and their geographic spread, in addition to the scarcity of vaccines and other resources.
