In January, Africa surpassed 30% of cholera cases detected in 2022.

cases anger registered in Africa In January 2023 alone, they exceeded 30% of the total number of infections detected on the continent in 2022, a “worrisome” upward trend exacerbated by climate events and conflict, the World Health Organization (WHO) warned today.

“We are seeing a worrying scenario in which conflicts and extreme weather exacerbate triggers anger and increasing its cost in lives,” said the director of Africa belonging WHO, Matshidiso Moeti, in a statement.

With active outbreaks since early 2023 in a total of ten countries, Africa just last month there were about 26,000 cases and 660 deaths, WHOwhile in 2022, around 80,000 cases and 1,863 deaths were detected in fifteen countries.

In countries such as Ethiopia, Somalia and Kenya, outbreaks have been exacerbated by devastating drought in the Horn Africathe worst in forty years, which caused massive population displacement and made it difficult to access water and hygiene.

Countries such as Nigeria, Burundi, Cameroon, Zambia, Mozambique or the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) have also been affected, where the province with the highest number of cases is North Kivu, which has suffered violence from armed groups operating in the northeast of the country. a country.

In this province, which is mountainous in many parts, meaning that the population only has access to drinking water when it is brought in by trucks, renewed fighting last March between the March 23 Movement (M23) rebel movement and the Congolese army caused resettlement of more than half a million people.

The hardest hit country, however, Malawi, where an outbreak declared in March became the “deadliest” in its history, warned WHO, According to the latest figures from the country’s Ministry of Health, there have been 40,284 cases and 1,316 deaths so far.

“If the current trend of rapid growth continues, reported cases could top out in 2021, the worst year for cholera in Africa in nearly a decade,” the agency warned. WHO.

Similarly, the death rate from the disease on the continent reaches nearly 3%, above the 1% limit set by the organization.

cholera in the world

The proliferation of cases worldwide, currently affecting 18 countries, has put “great pressure” on vaccine availability worldwide, the report said. WHOwhich forced the group managing the international reserves (WHO, Médecins Sans Frontières, International Federation of the Red Cross and UNICEF) to temporarily reduce the doses administered from two to one last October.

In this context, Malawi announced in mid-January that he had exhausted all available doses to stop the outbreak and a situation he could still remedy, Charles Mwansambo, Minister of Health at Malawi’s Ministry of Health, confirmed today at a virtual press conference. .

After shipping 1.9 million vaccines in April and another 2.9 million vaccines in November, “we haven’t received anything else yet,” Mwansambo admitted, noting that “basic preventive measures against anger are water, sanitation and hygiene.

cholera is disease acute diarrhea caused by ingestion of food or water contaminated with the vibrio cholerae bacillus.

In accordance with WHOremains a “global threat to public health and an indicator of inequality and lack of development”.

EFE