ADDIS ABABA – Global Roadmap will provide a concrete path for ending cholera by 2030 World Health Organization (WHO) Representative to Ethiopia said.
Dr. Aggrey Bategereza, WHO Representative, told The Ethiopian Herald that Cholera is an increasing public health threat for many countries and regions. And its unwelcome appearance due to climate change is on the rise.
Cholera prevention requires urgent effective public health interventions such as access to safe water, adequate sanitation, adequate food safety, appropriate hygiene, adequate use of cholera vaccines as complementary measures, a community-based approach and cross border activities to control the transmission, he added.
Member States underscored the need to revitalize the Global Task Force on Cholera Control (GTFCC) and emphasize the need to scale up advocacy measures. He said GTFCC is a network of governmental and non-governmental organizations, UN agencies, and scientific partner institutions that helps to coordinate activities to control cholera.
The Global Roadmap aims to reduce cholera deaths by 90 percent over the next decade. The key role of the GTFCC is to promote and support the implementation of the Roadmap at country level by providing the advocacy, coordination, policy guidance and technical assistance necessary for countries to develop National Cholera Plans and implement them effectively, he added.
“With full implementation, the plan could also help as many as 20 countries eliminate disease transmission in the same time frame. Through early detection and response to outbreaks, integrated prevention tactics, and coordination between countries and partners, the roadmap provides a concrete path for ending cholera as a public health threat.”
Implementing the strategy needs investment because it channels resources to areas most in need, and begins to reduce the significant economic burden of cholera, which costs an estimated two billion USD per year globally in health care costs and lost productivity, noted.
Adopting a multi-sectoral approach to prevent and control cholera in hotspots and establishing effective mechanisms of coordination for technical support, resource mobilization and collaboration at the local and global level is critical, he said.
Moreover, infrastructure development along with associated capacity-building activities for operations, maintenance and repairs, and sustainable financing models should be adapted to the local transmission pattern for long-term control or elimination.
To establish national targets when applicable and make financial and political commitments to cholera control with national Sustainable Development Goal implementation plans is mandatory to achieve the goal, he insisted. Today 47 countries are affected by cholera globally.
The Ethiopian Herald, August 15/2019
BY TSEGCAYE TILAHUN
