The number of cases and deaths due to cholera will increase greatly in 2023, the World Health Organization (WHO) underlined yesterday Wednesday, whose director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus recalled that the outbreaks could have been “avoided” and that it is a disease “easy to cure”.

The number of recorded cholera cases increased by 13% to 535,321, while that of deaths by 71% (4,000+) in 2023 compared to 2022, according to statistics released by the agency, part of the UN system.

“Cholera has killed more than four thousand people in over a year” while it is “a disease that can be easily prevented and treated”, insisted Dr. Tendros during a press conference.

Worse, the numbers of cases and deaths are likely “underestimated,” said Philippe Barbosa, head of the WHO’s working group on cholera and other epidemic diseases that cause acute diarrhea. He explained that this is due to diagnostic gaps, as the difference in capabilities is chaotic from country to country.

Armed conflicts, climate change, lack of drinking water and sanitation, poverty, population underdevelopment and forced displacement due to armed conflict and natural disasters are the factors that contributed to the increase in cholera epidemics in 2023, the WHO listed in its announcement .

The geographic distribution of cholera “changed markedly” in 2023 compared to 2022: there was a 32% drop in cases in the Middle East and Asia, but a 125% jump in Africa.

2023 was the first year that cholera deaths outside health facilities (“deaths in the community”) were reported, attesting to “serious gaps in access to treatment,” the WHO said.

In 2024, the global risk of cholera epidemics remains “very high”; 22 countries are “currently reporting active outbreaks,” noted Dr. Tree. Since the beginning of the year, more than 342,000 cases and 2,400 deaths have been recorded.

Faced with this situation, the director-general of the WHO reiterated his call to increase vaccine production.

“About 36 million doses were produced last year, just half of what 14 affected countries have requested by October 2022,” summarized Dr. Tree.

Recalling that currently “there is only one cholera vaccine manufacturer, EuBiologics” (South Korea), he called on other pharmaceutical industries “planning to enter the market to accelerate their efforts”.

Besides, although vaccination is an “important tool”, it is “drinking water, sanitation and hygiene” that are “the only lasting and long-term solutions”, the WHO chief insisted.

Cholera, transmitted through contaminated food or water or feces containing the bacterium Vibrio cholerae, causes acute diarrhea and dehydration and can affect