Global Cholera Epidemiology: Opportunities to Reduce the Burden of Cholera by 2030

Abstract

While safe drinking water and advanced sanitation systems have made the Global North cholera-free for decades, the disease still affects 47 countries across the globe resulting in an estimated 2.86 million cases and 95,000 deaths per year worldwide. Cholera impacts communities already burdened by conflict, lack of infrastructure, poor health systems, and malnutrition. In October 2017, the Global Task Force on Cholera Control (GTFCC) launched an initiative titled Ending Cholera: A Global Roadmap to 2030, with the objective to reduce cholera deaths by 90% worldwide, and eliminate cholera in at least 20 countries by 2030. The GTFCC is working to position cholera control not as a vertical programme but instead using cholera as a marker of inequity and an indicator of poverty, linking the objectives of the Roadmap to the SDGs. The roadmap consists of targeted multi-sectoral interventions, supported by a coordination mechanism, along 3 axes: (1) early detection and quick response to contain outbreaks; (2) a multisectoral approach to prevent cholera recurrence in hotspots; (3) an effective partnership mechanism of coordination for technical support, countries capacity building, research and M&E, advocacy and resource mobilization. Every case and every death from cholera is preventable with the tools we have today.

Figure 1.

Major cholera outbreaks in 2017 (source: World Health Organization).