The World Health Organisation has called for a targeted approach focusing on the key cholera hotspots with more cases in the fight against the disease.
WHO says that focusing on cholera hotpots more than doubles the return on investments in safe water, sanitation and hygiene.
This comes even as several African countries including Kenya continue to battle a cholera outbreak as cases continue to surge in the past few months.
The latest data from the Ministry of Health shows that as of March 7, the number of Kenyans who had succumbed to cholera was 99.
The total number of cholera cases reported since the first case was recorded last year in October stands at 6,391 as of March 7.
“The future presents multiple challenges, but at least for cholera, we have the answer: access to safe water, sanitation and hygiene in cholera hotspots. Urgent, targeted investments will get us there,” WHO says.
According to WHO, the global cholera situation is concerning, noting that safe drinking water, sanitation and hygiene are the only long-term and sustainable solutions to ending this cholera emergency and preventing future ones.
The global health agency advises that to prevent future outbreaks, there is a need to invest in strong public health surveillance systems to quickly identify and confirm cholera cases and allow for immediate action.
“Countries with ongoing widespread outbreaks need immediate support to track and tackle the current crisis. We can’t solve a problem we can’t see,” WHO says.
Cholera is an acute diarrheal illness caused by infection of the intestine with Vibrio cholerae bacteria.
People can get sick when they swallow food or water contaminated with cholera bacteria. The infection is often mild or without symptoms, but can sometimes be severe and life-threatening.
Symptoms in infected persons in the early stages include profuse watery diarrhoea, vomiting, rapid heart rate, loss of skin elasticity, dry mucous membranes, low blood pressure, thirst, muscle cramps and restlessness or irritability.
Early this week, the African Union formed a task force that has been tasked with coordinating cholera response activities among member states.
The Africa Elimination of Cholera Epidemics Coordination Taskforce (AECECT) will be hosted at the AU Secretariat in Addis Ababa in Ethiopia under the leadership of member states.
The task force will be supported by the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the World Health Organisation, Unicef, the Global Taskforce on Cholera Control (GTFCC) and other relevant partners.
