Deaths from cholera surge 71 per cent globally: WHO

In 2024, India reported a total of 3,805 cholera cases, of which 125 were confirmed till July 28, the WHO said.Lamenting the death toll due to cholera, WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said, “Conflict, climate change, unsafe water and sanitation, poverty and displacement all contributed to the rise in cholera outbreaks.”Also, population displacement due to emerging and re-emerging conflicts and disasters from natural hazards all contributed to the rise in cholera outbreaks last year, the report said. The geographical distribution of cholera changed significantly from 2022 to 2023, with a 32% decrease in cases reported from the Middle East and Asia and a 125% increase in Africa. Many countries in Africa reported a high proportion of community deaths, indicating gaps in access to treatment. This is the first year that multiple countries have reported deaths from cholera, which occurred outside of health facilities, known as ‘community deaths’. In five out of 13 reporting countries, over a third of cholera deaths happened in the community, highlighting severe gaps in access to treatment and the need to strengthen this area of response.Afghanistan, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Malawi, and Somalia reported large outbreaks of over 10,000 suspected or confirmed cases. Ethiopia, Haiti, Mozambique, and Zimbabwe added to the tally in 2023, WHO said.



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