Cholera Vaccines To Arrive In Nigeria Soon

The Chief Executive Officer of the Vaccine Alliance, Gavi, Dr. Sania Nishtar, has disclosed that cholera vaccines are on the way to Nigeria and aim to mitigate the severe and persistent disease outbreak. Earlier on June 27, 2024, Nishatar expressed concern over the cholera outbreak in Nigeria and the readiness of the organization to assist the country in its response efforts, including providing emergency vaccine doses as necessary. Cholera, a highly contagious disease transmitted through contaminated water and food, is caused by ingesting the bacterium Vibrio cholerae. The primary factors contributing to the outbreak include the consumption of contaminated water and poor sanitation, further intensified by the rainy season, leading to an increase in cholera cases due to flooding and the contamination of water sources. As of July 15, the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (NCDC) has documented 3,623 suspected cholera cases and 103 fatalities across 34 states and the Federal Capital Territory. The outbreak has expanded to 187 Local Government Areas, with a case fatality rate of 2.8 per cent since the start of the year. Dr Jide Idris, the Director-General of the NCDC, noted that the most affected age group is five years old, with males representing 52 per cent of the cases and females representing 48 per cent. He also mentioned a 5.6 per cent decrease in the number of cases reported in the current week (July 8 – 14) compared to the previous week. However, in a post via her official X handle on Thursday, Nishtar wrote: “Encouraged to learn that #Cholera vaccines from the #Gavi-funded global vaccine stockpile will soon arrive in Nigeria to help curb the country’s deadly and ongoing outbreak. We stand ready to work with our partners #UNICEF and #WHO to support Minister #muhammadpate, #Fmohnigeria, and #NCDCgov’s timely efforts to contain this outbreak and protect those at the highest risk. “Despite the large number of cholera outbreaks this year, our stockpile is now fully replenished, and production continues at maximum capacity. We hope to keep supporting cholera-affected countries with their control plans. #stopcholera.”

WHO Releases $16m To Tackle Cholera, Says Director-General

The World Health Organisation (WHO) has released 16 million dollars from the WHO Contingency Fund for Emergencies to tackle cholera. Dr Tedros Ghebreyesus, WHO Director-General said this during an online news conference. Ghebreyesus said that the organisation was providing essential supplies, coordinating the on the ground response with partners, supporting countries to detect, prevent and treat cholera, and informing people how to protect themselves. “To support this work, we have appealed for 160 million dollars, and we have released more than 16 million dollars from the WHO Contingency Fund for Emergencies. “But the real solution to cholera lies in ensuring everyone has access to safe water and sanitation, which is an internationally recognized human right,” he said. According to him, in the previous week, WHO published new data showing that cases reported in 2022 were more than double those in 2021. He said that the preliminary data for 2023 suggested was likely to be even worse. “So far, 28 countries have reported cases in 2023 compared with 16 during the same period in 2022. “The countries with the most concerning outbreaks right now are Ethiopia, Haiti, Iraq and Sudan. “Significant progress has been made in countries in Southern Africa, including Malawi, Mozambique and Zimbabwe, but these countries remain at risk as the rainy season approaches,” Ghebreyesus said. According to him, the worst affected countries and communities are poor, without access to safe drinking water or toilets. He said that they also face shortages of oral cholera vaccine and other supplies, as well as overstretched health workers, who are dealing with multiple disease outbreaks and other health emergencies. On COVID-19, Ghebreyesus said that as the northern hemisphere winter approaches, the organisation continued to see concerning trends. He said that among the relatively few countries that report them, both hospitalisations and ICU admissions have increased in the past 28 days, particularly in the Americas and Europe. WHO boss said that meanwhile, vaccination levels among the most at-risk groups remained worryingly low. “Two-thirds of the world’s population has received a complete primary series, but only one-third has received an additional, or “booster” dose. “COVID-19 may no longer be the acute crisis it was two years ago, but that does not mean we can ignore it,” he said. According to him, countries invested so much in building their systems to respond to COVID-19. He urged countries to sustain those systems, to ensure people can be protected, tested and treated for COVID-19 and other infectious threats. “That means sustaining systems for collaborative surveillance, community protection, safe and scalable care, access to countermeasures and coordination,” he said.