GENEVA: One billion people in 43 countries are at risk of cholera — a “pandemic killing the poor” — despite prevention and treatment being relatively straightforward, the United Nations warned on Friday.
The UN branded the outlook bleak, saying it did not have the resources to fight the outbreaks, and the longer it took to start waging the battle, the worse the situation would get.
Between the World Health Organization and the children’s agency UNICEF, the UN is seeking $640 million to fight the infectious disease, warning of a “cholera catastrophe” if action is not ramped up immediately.
“WHO estimates that a billion people across 43 countries are at risk of cholera,” said Henry Gray, the UN health agency’s incident manager for the global cholera response.
So far this year, 24 countries have reported cholera outbreaks, compared to 15 by mid-May last year.
Countries that are not usually affected by cholera are being affected and case fatality rates are far exceeding the typical one in 100.
Gray blamed the rise in cases on poverty, conflict and climate change, as well as the population displacements they trigger, which take people away from safer sources of food and water, and from medical support.
“With the increase in the number of countries affected by cholera, the resources that were available for prevention and response are more thinly spread,” he told a media briefing.
Cholera is contracted from a bacterium that is generally transmitted through contaminated food or water.
It causes diarrhea and vomiting, and can be especially dangerous for young children.
Jerome Pfaffmann Zambruni, the head of UNICEF’s public health emergency unit, said the rise in cases was “a wake-up call.”
“There is a pandemic killing the poor right in front of us and we know exactly how to stop it, but we need more support and less inertia from the global community because if we don’t act now, it’s going to get worse,” he said.
“We know how to treat it. We know how to control it. It’s not easy but it’s simple.”
Although cholera can kill within hours, it can be treated with simple oral rehydration, and antibiotics for more severe cases.
But many people lack timely access to such treatment.
Outbreaks can be prevented by ensuring access to clean water and improving surveillance.
But the lack of funds for rapid response will cost lives that could have been saved, said Gray.
“The overall solution is long-term investment in wastewater infrastructure,” he added.
The campaign is not helped by the dearth of vaccines.
Around 36 million cholera vaccine doses were produced last year, but it is not seen as an attractive product for manufacturers, as there is effectively no market in wealthy countries.
Over 18 million oral cholera vaccine doses have been requested this year, but only eight million have been made available, bringing prevention campaigns to a halt.
Rather than the full two doses, only one is being issued to recipients “to try to spin it out,” said Gray.
The number of available doses could double by 2025 and then double again by 2027.
“We won’t have enough, even with those numbers, if the current trend for cholera cases continues,” said Gray.
Cholera cases steadily declined over 10 years but the trend reversed in 2021.
The most heavily affected countries so far this year are Malawi and Mozambique.
Nine other countries are deemed to be in “acute crisis“: Burundi, Cameroon, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, Syria, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
![]()
One billion threatened by cholera: UN
Short Url
https://arab.news/5apr6
One billion threatened by cholera: UN
- The UN branded the outlook bleak, saying it did not have the resources to fight the outbreaks
- "WHO estimates that a billion people across 43 countries are at risk of cholera," said Henry Gray, the UN health agency's incident manager for the global cholera response
Russian pensioners turn to soup kitchen as war economy stutters
SAINT PETERSBURG: Dishes clatter, steam bursts from large cooking pots and music is seeping through the bustling chatter of Russian pensioners, hunched over bowls of free meals in a Saint Petersburg soup kitchen.
The general mood is upbeat but the place, at full capacity, is a testament to financial hardships plaguing an ever-increasing number of Russia’s elderly people, struggling to make ends meet as the country’s war economy stutters.
Nina, a 77-year-old retired engineer, said she could no longer go to the supermarket, getting her lunch and dinner from the soup kitchen instead, as she was not able to afford her own groceries.
“I haven’t been to a shop for three years because I don’t have the money. There’s simply no point in going,” she told AFP, her voice resolute but eyes glistening.
“Should I just go, look around and leave?,” she asked.
The cost of living in Russia — particularly in large cities — has skyrocketed in the four years since Moscow launched its full-scale offensive in Ukraine.
Huge spending on the military helped Russia buck predictions of economic collapse, but has pushed up inflation — a headache for the Kremlin which has aimed to shield citizens from the fallout of its war.
Prices have surged by a combined 45 percent since Russia launched its offensive, according to official data.
And though President Vladimir Putin recently hailed a cooling of inflation amid high interest rates, pensioners in the Saint Petersburg soup kitchen say their situation is still dire.
- ‘Poor boys’ -
On a bright winter day, AFP met former accountants, doctors and engineers turning to the free bowls of soup and pasta on offer.
Zinaida, a 77-year-old former paediatrician, told AFP her pension was 26,400 rubles ($345) a month.
“Over the last two to three years, we have seen food prices rise,” Zinaida said, attributing the surge to raising taxes.
In order to plug holes in Russia’s stretched public finances, the Kremlin has tapped the pockets of its citizens, raising the nationwide sales tax from 20 to 22 percent, starting this year.
For many pensioners like Zinaida, juggling monthly expenses has become increasingly tricky.
“By our age, everyone has a whole load of illnesses,” she said, and the medications were “very expensive.”
“You work just to pay for the utilities and the pharmacy. There is almost nothing left for anything else.”
That sentiment is shared by Anna, 66, who, despite a career as a surgeon, said she struggled to pay her bills in retirement.
“When you go to the pharmacy, you start to wonder if you’ll be able to buy anything for lunch.”
The Central Bank, which has hiked borrowing costs in a bid to tame price rises, expects annual inflation to ease to Moscow’s four-percent target only in 2027.
That is just one of the Russian economy’s worsening indicators as the war in Ukraine drags into its fifth year.
Growth slowed dramatically to one percent in 2025, Putin said earlier this week — down from 4.3 a year prior.
But for Tatyana, a former accountant, “it’s only fair that things should get more expensive.”
“We have this war going, with our poor boys there. May God grant them all good health.”
The general mood is upbeat but the place, at full capacity, is a testament to financial hardships plaguing an ever-increasing number of Russia’s elderly people, struggling to make ends meet as the country’s war economy stutters.
Nina, a 77-year-old retired engineer, said she could no longer go to the supermarket, getting her lunch and dinner from the soup kitchen instead, as she was not able to afford her own groceries.
“I haven’t been to a shop for three years because I don’t have the money. There’s simply no point in going,” she told AFP, her voice resolute but eyes glistening.
“Should I just go, look around and leave?,” she asked.
The cost of living in Russia — particularly in large cities — has skyrocketed in the four years since Moscow launched its full-scale offensive in Ukraine.
Huge spending on the military helped Russia buck predictions of economic collapse, but has pushed up inflation — a headache for the Kremlin which has aimed to shield citizens from the fallout of its war.
Prices have surged by a combined 45 percent since Russia launched its offensive, according to official data.
And though President Vladimir Putin recently hailed a cooling of inflation amid high interest rates, pensioners in the Saint Petersburg soup kitchen say their situation is still dire.
- ‘Poor boys’ -
On a bright winter day, AFP met former accountants, doctors and engineers turning to the free bowls of soup and pasta on offer.
Zinaida, a 77-year-old former paediatrician, told AFP her pension was 26,400 rubles ($345) a month.
“Over the last two to three years, we have seen food prices rise,” Zinaida said, attributing the surge to raising taxes.
In order to plug holes in Russia’s stretched public finances, the Kremlin has tapped the pockets of its citizens, raising the nationwide sales tax from 20 to 22 percent, starting this year.
For many pensioners like Zinaida, juggling monthly expenses has become increasingly tricky.
“By our age, everyone has a whole load of illnesses,” she said, and the medications were “very expensive.”
“You work just to pay for the utilities and the pharmacy. There is almost nothing left for anything else.”
That sentiment is shared by Anna, 66, who, despite a career as a surgeon, said she struggled to pay her bills in retirement.
“When you go to the pharmacy, you start to wonder if you’ll be able to buy anything for lunch.”
The Central Bank, which has hiked borrowing costs in a bid to tame price rises, expects annual inflation to ease to Moscow’s four-percent target only in 2027.
That is just one of the Russian economy’s worsening indicators as the war in Ukraine drags into its fifth year.
Growth slowed dramatically to one percent in 2025, Putin said earlier this week — down from 4.3 a year prior.
But for Tatyana, a former accountant, “it’s only fair that things should get more expensive.”
“We have this war going, with our poor boys there. May God grant them all good health.”
Latest updates
© 2026 SAUDI RESEARCH & PUBLISHING COMPANY, All Rights Reserved And subject to Terms of Use Agreement.