GENEVA: The United Nations (UN) warned on Friday that one billion people in 43 countries are at risk of cholera, a “pandemic killing the poor” despite simple prevention and treatment.
UN Health Agency
The UN branded the outlook bleak, claiming that it could not combat the outbreaks and that the longer it took to start fighting, the worse the situation would get. The World Health Organization and UNICEF request $640 million to combat the deadly disease, warning of a “cholera catastrophe” if action is not taken soon. According to Henry Grey, the UN health agency’s incident manager for the global cholera response, 1 billion people in 43 countries are in danger of cholera. So far this year, 24 countries have reported cholera outbreaks, compared to 15 by mid-May last year.
Countries not usually impacted by cholera are being hit, and case fatality rates are considerably increasing above the average of one in 100. Gray blamed the increase in poverty, conflict, and climate change, as well as the population displacements, as factors that drive people away from safe sources of food, water, and medical care. He said in a media briefing that as the number of countries afflicted by cholera grows, the resources available for prevention and response become increasingly dispersed.
