The UN World Health Organization announced a sharp increase in cholera cases worldwide, with nearly 195,000 cases and over 1,900 deaths reported in 24 countries since the beginning of the year.
The WHO’s Eastern Mediterranean Region has the highest number of cases, followed by the African Region, the Region of the Americas, the Southeast Asia Region, and the European Region. There are no reported cases in the Western Region, according to a bulletin released on Wednesday.
The WHO also mentioned that it had exhausted its global stockpile of Oral Cholera Vaccines by March but managed to exceed the emergency target of five million doses in early June.
Despite this, the demand for the vaccine far exceeds the supply. Since January last year, 16 countries have requested 92 million doses of OCV, almost double the 49 million produced during that time.
WHO, the UN Children’s Fund, and other partners are collaborating to find long-term solutions for cholera.
In more positive health news, WHO announced that Chad has successfully eradicated “sleeping sickness” as a public health problem. The agency praised the government and people of Chad for eliminating the gambiense form of human African trypanosomiasis, commonly known as sleeping sickness.
“I congratulate the government and the people of Chad for this achievement. It is great to see Chad join the growing group of countries that have eliminated at least one neglected tropical disease (NTD),” said WHO Director-General Tedros Ghebreyesus.
Chad’s success joins that of about 50 other countries globally in eliminating at least one neglected tropical disease. Ghebreyesus added, “The 100-country target is nearer and within reach,” referring to the goal set for addressing neglected tropical diseases by 2030.
Sleeping sickness can cause flu-like symptoms initially, but eventually leads to behavior changes, confusion, sleep disturbances, or even coma, often resulting in death.
Improved access to early diagnosis and treatment, along with effective surveillance and response, has proven that countries can control and eventually eliminate the transmission of this disease.
