Brazzaville, 28 August 2007 -- “The cholera situation is worsening in the African Region and concerted efforts are required to establish multisectoral plans to deal with this resurgence in a coordinated way”, The World Health Organization (WHO) has warned.

This caution is contained in a report on the cholera situation in Africa by WHO Regional Director for Africa, Dr Luis Sambo, to the fifty-seventh annual meeting of Health Ministers from the WHO African Region.

“The unprecedented occurrence of cholera outbreaks is negatively affecting the economies of Member States through the directly-incurred costs of curative and preventive care and through indirectly-incurred costs due to loss of production and embargoes on trade and tourism”, Dr Sambo says in the report.

Cholera, an acute intestinal infection, causes copious, painless, watery diarrhea and vomiting which can quickly lead to severe dehydration and death if not promptly treated.

The African Region accounts for over 90% of the total cases of cholera reported to WHO. Major determinants of cholera outbreaks include social and political unrest, wars, and the massive displacement of populations. Leading risk factors include lack of portable water and poor sanitation.

The Regional Director says that although current response to the disease tends to be reactive in the form of emergency response, the overall case fatality ration has shown a significant downward trend, reflecting the effectiveness of the rapid response to cholera outbreaks and improved case management, he says.

Dr Sambo also underscores the need for countries to develop and implement national action plans for safe drinking water and appropriate sanitation; conduct operations research, and identify appropriate technologies for safe water supply based on WHO standard through effective multilateral approaches.

In 2006, thirty one of the 46 Member States in the African Region reported cholera epidemics to the Regional Office, compared to 27 countries in 2004. The cumulative number of cases was 202, 407 and deaths totaled 5259, giving an overall case fatality ration of 2.6%. Dr Sambo called for a clear documentation of the role of mass vaccination using newly developed cholera vaccines as a public health strategy for protecting populations at risk, particularly in terms of logistics, cost and timing.

“However, vaccination should not be seen as the main intervention. Emphasis should be on health education and prevention through the use of safe water and food, environmental sanitation as well as collective and personal hygiene”, he says.

For more information contact:

Technical contact

Dr Yokuibe Allaranger

Tel: + 47 241 39581

Email: allarangary [at] afro.who.int

Media Contact

Samuel T. Ajibola

Tel: + 47 241 39378

Email: ajibolas [at] afro.who.int