The World Health Organisation, W.H.O says the number of cholera cases decreased globally, by 60 per cent in 2018.
The organisation made this known in a statement issued from its headquarters in Geneva Switzerland, entitled: “Cholera Prevention and Control Report.”
The report pointed to an encouraging trend in cholera prevention and control in the world’s major hot-spots, including Haiti, Somalia and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Cholera is an acute diarrhoeal infection caused by ingestion of food or water contaminated with the bacterium Vibrio cholerae. It affects both children and adults, and can kill within hours if left untreated.
WHO estimates that each year, cholera infects one million to four million people and claims up to 143 thousand lives.
The statement noted that there were over 499 thousand cases of cholera and about three thousand deaths in 2018, reports from 34 countries showed.
It quoted WHO Director-General, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, as saying the decrease we are seeing in several major cholera-endemic countries demonstrates increased engagement of countries.
