Are all countries exposed to “Cholera” cured?

EVALUATION

CDC.gov (www.cdc.gov) is an online source of credible health information and is the official
website of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). CDC is committed to
achieving true improvements in people's health. It provides direct access to important health
and safety topics, scientific articles, data and statistics, tools and resources – and over 900
topics in the CDC.gov A-Z Index.

The Borgen Project is highly ranked on the top charity watchdog sites. For nearly 20 years,
the organization has been advocating for the world's poor and is very respected in its field.
Collectively, Borgen projects have had success such as the Water for the World Act, the
Global Food Security Act, the Electrify Africa Act, and the READ Act which has reached at
least 165 million individuals in developing countries.

CAUSES

Cholera is a diarrheal illness caused by infection of the intestine with Vibrio cholera bacteria.
People can get sick when they swallow food or water contaminated with cholera bacteria.
This bacterium is usually found in food and water contaminated by feces from an infected
person. Cholera can be caused in several ways such as Poverty, Climate change, War and
conflict, Poor hygiene practices, and also if traveling to areas or countries exposed to cholera.

CONSEQUENCES

An estimated 1.3 to 4 million people around the world get cholera each year and 21,000 to
143,000 people die from it. People with severe cholera can develop severe dehydration,
which can lead to kidney failure. If left untreated, severe dehydration can lead to shock,
coma, and death within hours. Such disruption of water and sanitation systems or the
displacement of populations to inadequate and overcrowded camps can increase the risk of
cholera transmission. The social impact of cholera is mainly characterized by financial
concerns that are manifested by people reporting the loss of family income and interference
with work-related activities in all three settings, albeit with significantly differing
prominences.

GLOBAL PERSPECTIVE

Recent deadly floods in Nigeria, which have killed over 600 people and displaced 1 million
more, have led to a major increase in cholera cases and other preventable diseases, warns the
International Rescue Committee (IRC). In the past two decades, Nigeria has experienced
three major cholera epidemics with most cases clustered in northern states. The Nigerian
government continues to implement policies to control the spread of cholera. Promoting basic
sanitation, improving hygiene practices, and providing clean water are ways the government
does this. In an attempt to mitigate the spread of cholera in Nigeria, the government has also
supplied solar-powered boreholes with the help of the International Organization of
Migration (IOM).

In 2022, the risk of cholera in the Philippines was 2.6 cases per 100,000 population.
According to the Philippines government Safe water, good sanitation, and proper hygiene are
critical to preventing infection. It is important to keep surroundings clean, dispose of human
waste properly, and wash hands often with soap and water. The Philippine Department of
Health is also encouraging communities to chlorinate water or boil water for over three
minutes when they are unsure of the water quality. A common cause of cholera outbreaks in
the Philippines is contaminated water sources.

Malawi is also experiencing a widespread cholera outbreak, with 36 943 cases and 1210
associated deaths reported from all 29 districts since 3 March 2022. This is the deadliest
outbreak of cholera in the country's history. While epidemics typically start in the rainy
season, last year the epidemic began in the dry season.

NATIONAL PERSPECTIVE
The rapid spread of cholera throughout Haiti starting in October 2010 highlighted the need
for improved water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) and better access to basic medical care
facilities. In 2010, a cholera outbreak in Haiti, which was traced back to sewage negligently
released from a United Nations peacekeepers base into a river near the town of Mirebalais,
caused about 9,800 deaths and over 820,000 infections. The age distribution of people with
cholera in that year’s outbreak was more representative of the entire Haitian population. The
risk factors for the infection at that time included poor hygiene, lack of safe drinking water,
poverty, and malnutrition.

DIFFERENCE/SIMILARITY BETWEEN GP AND NP

The difference is only that Haiti is most commonly getting cholera due to not clean water and
also surroundings. The countries for GP are chosen because they are less infected with
cholera.

The similarity is that they all have poverty which causes Cholera and they all have to improve
water sanitization and have a clean water system.

KEY SOLUTION

While work to replenish the vaccine shortage is underway, there are things we can all do as
Global Citizens to help alleviate the impact of the global cholera crisis. The first is to take
action with Global Citizen, calling for world leaders to step up against the climate crisis with
climate change-induced storms and flooding that have contributed to outbreaks. We can also
take action to support our campaigns calling on world leaders to do more to invest in and
support the world’s healthcare systems; as well as taking action on ensuring access to clean
water and sanitation for all. We can also donate to organizations working to combat the
world’s biggest cholera outbreaks including Doctors without Borders, World Vision, and
Save the Children.

REFLECTION
This challenge taught me about a harmful disease, Cholera. It developed my perspective on
understanding how a disease spreads and causes disaster everywhere. This challenge also
developed my perspective by knowing that dirty water can cause diseases like Cholera, so we
need more clean water and sanitation around us.

BY: RHYTHM DHALL

WORD COUNT: 928

RESOURCES:

● Illness and Symptoms | Cholera | CDC. (n.d.).

https://www.cdc.gov/cholera/illness.html#:~:text=Cholera%20is%20an%20acute
%20diarrheal,water%20contaminated%20with%20cholera%20bacteria.
● World Health Organization: WHO. (2022, March 30). Cholera.
https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/cholera
● Alexander, L. (2021, September 10). The Battle Against Cholera in Nigeria. The
Borgen Project. https://borgenproject.org/cholera-in-nigeria/
● World Health Organization: WHO. (2017, July 12). WHO supports the Philippine
Department of Health to fight cholera in affected region of the Philippines.
https://www.who.int/philippines/news/feature-stories/detail/who-supports-the-
philippine-department-of-health-to-fight-cholera-in-affected-region-of-the-philippines
● Malawi’s worst cholera epidemic in decades sparks massive demand for vaccines.
(2023, February 16). Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance.
https://www.gavi.org/vaccineswork/malawis-worst-cholera-epidemic-decades-sparks-
massive-demand-vaccines-stocks-run#:~:text=Cholera%2C%20caused%20by%20the
%20bacterium,began%20in%20the%20dry%20season.
● Wenzel, R. P. W. (2022, December 22). Cholera in Haiti, Again. NEJM Group.
https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMp2214763#:~:text=The%20age
%20distribution%20of%20people,water%2C%20poverty%2C%20and
%20malnutrition
● Haiti: Urgently Address Cholera Outbreak. (2022, October 19). Human Rights
Watch. https://www.hrw.org/news/2022/10/18/haiti-urgently-address-cholera-
 outbreak#:~:text=In%202010%2C%20a%20cholera%20outbreak,deaths%20and
%20over%20820%2C000%20infections.
● (2022a, October 22). Deadly flooding in Nigeria leads to major cholera outbreak;
IRC scaling up flood and health response. The IRC. https://www.rescue.org/press-
release/deadly-flooding-nigeria-leads-major-cholera-outbreak-irc-scaling-flood-and-
health#:~:text=October%2021%2C%202022%20%E2%80%94%20Recent
%20deadly,International%20Rescue%20Committee%20(IRC).