Archive for May 21st, 2023

21/05/2023

One Billion People in 43 Countries Face Cholera Risk, amid ‘Bleak’ Outlook

Human Wrongs Watch

(UN NEWS)* — After years of steady decline, cholera is making a devastating comeback and targeting the world’s most vulnerable communities, UN health experts warned on Friday [].

A child is vaccinated against cholera in Aleppo, northwest Syria. (file)
© UNICEF/Rami Nader | A child is vaccinated against cholera in Aleppo, northwest Syria. (file)

In a new alert, the World Health Organization (WHO) and UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) said that more countries now face outbreaks, increasing numbers of cases are being reported and the outcome for patients is worse than 10 years ago.

‘Killing the poor in front of us’

“The pandemic is killing the poor right in front of us,” said Jérôme Pfaffmann Zambruni, Head of UNICEF’s Public Health Emergency unit.

Echoing the bleak outlook, WHO data indicates that by May last year, 15 countries had reported cases, but by mid-May this year “we already have 24 countries reporting and we anticipate more with the seasonal shift in cholera cases,” said Henry Gray, WHO’s Incident Manager for the global cholera response.

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