The United Nations warned on Friday that a billion people in 43 countries are at risk of contracting cholera, despite the fact that outbreaks might be stopped with the right resources.
As it seeks $640 million to combat the deadly disease, the UN health agency said the outlook was grim but added that the longer it waits to step up the fight, the worse things will get.
Vaccination campaigns, according to the World Health Organization, have been seriously hindered.
Henry Gray, the organization’s incident manager for the global cholera response, stated that according to WHO estimates, a billion people in 43 different countries are at danger of contracting cholera.
Cholera outbreaks have been documented in 24 countries so far this year, as opposed to 15 by mid-May last year.
Gray attributed the increase in cases to factors such as population displacement brought on by poverty, conflict, and climate change.
The resources that were available for cholera prevention and response were “more thinly spread due to the increase in the number of countries affected by the disease,” he said.
An example is the oral cholera vaccine, for which over 18 million doses have been sought this year but only eight million have been made accessible, leading to the suspension of prophylactic programs.
Only one dose, as opposed to the full two, is given to recipients “to try to spin it out,” according to Gray.
“The future looks gloomy.” Over the next 12 months, the WHO is requesting $160 million for more than 40 nations.