WHO reports 70% surge in global cholera deaths in 2023

The number of cholera cases and deaths rose sharply last year, the World Health Organization said on Wednesday, calling for more to be done to stem the preventable disease.

Deaths from cholera soared by 71 percent while cases rose 13 percent in 2023 compared to the previous year, according to new data from the UN agency.

"Cholera killed 4,000 people last year," despite being "preventable and easily treatable," WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told a press conference.

"Conflict, climate change, unsafe water and sanitation, poverty and displacement all contributed to the rise in cholera outbreaks," he added.

The regions hardest hit by cholera changed considerably. A 32 percent drop in cases was seen in the Middle East and Asia, while a huge 125 jump was reported in Africa, the data showed.

So far this year, more than 342,000 cases and 2,400 deaths have been recorded, while 22 countries are reporting active outbreaks, Tedros said.

Among those affected has been war-ravaged Sudan, which declared a cholera epidemic last month after heavy rain.

The numbers very likely underestimate the disease's true toll, said Philippe Barbosa, the WHO's technical lead on cholera.

He pointed to modelling research suggesting that there are roughly two million cases of cholera and 100,000 deaths each year.

Barbosa emphasised that "it costs a few cents" to prevent these deaths, which he said were "totally morally unacceptable".

Tedros renewed a call for vaccine production to be ramped up.

Around 36 million doses were produced last year, just half the number requested by affected countries in 2022, the WHO chief said.

There is currently only one company making cholera vaccines -- South Korea's EuBiologics -- and Tedros urged other manufacturers to get involved.

"While vaccination is an important tool, safe drinking water, sanitation and hygiene remain the only long term and sustainable solutions to ending cholera outbreaks," he added.

Cholera, which causes severe diarrhoea, vomiting and muscle cramps, generally arises from eating or drinking food or water that is contaminated with the bacterium, according to the WHO.