New task force aims to reduce cholera deaths by 90 percent by 2030

The Global Task Force on Cholera Control (GTFCC), an initiative of more than 50 United Nations’ agencies, academic institutions, and nongovernmental organizations, recently announced the launch of a new strategy that aims to reduce deaths from cholera by 90 percent by 2030.

The effort, called Ending Cholera: A Global Roadmap to 2030, will seek to align resources, share best practices, and strengthen partnerships between worldwide stakeholders to underscore the need for a coordinated strategy to control cholera with a number of country-level plans for early detection and response to outbreaks.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), up to 20 affected nations could eliminate cholera by 2030 by implementing the roadmap.

“WHO is proud to be part of this new joint initiative to stop deaths from cholera,” WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said. “The disease takes its greatest toll on the poor and the vulnerable – this is quite unacceptable. This roadmap is the best way we have to bring this to an end.”

Due to advances in water sanitation and hygiene services (WASH), both Europe and North America have been cholera-free for more than three decades. While access to WASH is recognized as a human right by the United Nations, more than 2 billion people worldwide live in areas that do not have access to potable water.

Each year, cholera kills approximately 95,000 people and affects more than 2.9 million people worldwide. An overwhelming number of cases appear in communities affected by violent conflict, poor infrastructure and health systems, and malnutrition.

“Every death from cholera is preventable with the tools available today, including use of the Oral Cholera Vaccine and improved access to basic safe water, sanitation and hygiene as set out in the roadmap,” Gebreyesus said. “…It is unacceptable that nearly two decades into the 21st century, cholera continues to destroy livelihoods and cripple economies. We must act together. And we must act now.”