Alarm sounded as cholera leaves nearly 30 million people in need
A child washes hands in June last year. A cholera outbreak in the country has been linked to poor hygiene and food handling, as well as water shortage caused by the drought.
What you need to know:
- In Kenya alone, approximately 4.9 million people are in need due to the cholera epidemic and its effect on water supplies, food insecurity, and the provision of lifesaving services.
- The epidemic has also affected 14.2 million children in Eastern and Southern Africa, causing water supply contamination, food insecurity, acute malnutrition, and poor access to lifesaving services.
Cholera outbreak in Africa has left over 28 million people in need across 11 countries in Eastern and Southern Africa, including Kenya, according to the United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (Unicef).
The outbreak has hit Malawi the hardest, with over 36,301 cases and 1,684 registered deaths since last year. The other affected countries include Kenya, Mozambique, Somalia, Ethiopia, Zambia, South Sudan, Burundi, Tanzania, Zimbabwe and South Africa.
In Kenya alone, approximately 4.9 million people are in need due to the cholera epidemic and its effect on water supplies, food insecurity, and the provision of lifesaving services. According to Unicef, from the beginning of this year to the third week of March, Kenya has recorded 3,810 cases and cumulative deaths.
The epidemic has also affected 14.2 million children in Eastern and Southern Africa, causing water supply contamination, food insecurity, acute malnutrition, and poor access to lifesaving services.
Floods, droughts and other extreme weather events have compounded the effects of cholera in several affected countries. The compounding effects of a multi-year drought have caused widespread food insecurity, malnutrition, population displacement, and poor access to cholera-related services in Somalia, Kenya, and Ethiopia, which have borne the brunt of the Horn of Africa’s drought crisis.
Cyclone Freddy, currently under review by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO)as one of the longest-lasting and most powerful tropical cyclones on record, has caused devastating flooding and displacement in Mozambique and Malawi.
Additionally, destructive winds and heavy rainfall have hit parts of Zimbabwe and Zambia. Over the past few years, cyclones have hit southern Africa with a frequency and intensity that the WMO has referred to as “unprecedented,” leading to catastrophic flooding and an explosion of cholera.
Unicef is prioritising four cholera-affected countries that are either experiencing flooding or at risk of flooding for resource mobilisation: Malawi, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, and South Sudan. It is also developing individualiSed cholera response plans based on the unique conditions within each affected country.
In total, Unicef is appealing for US$ 170,830,332 to provide lifesaving WASH (water, sanitation and health), risk communication, nutrition, child protection, and education services to women and children affected by the outbreak.
Kenya requires about Sh1.7 billion to provide lifesaving services to women and children affected by the outbreak.
Unfortunately, Kenya has a regional funding gap of 87 per cent, limiting its ability to meet the full requirements of children and women affected by the crisis.
