Climate change and conflict are fuelling a resurgence of cholera in Africa, with progress toward elimination undermined by chronic underfunding, according to new analysis.
In 2024, more than 175,000 cases of cholera and 2,700 deaths were reported in Southern and Eastern African countries, making it the deadliest cholera outbreak in that region in the past decade, according to a UN brief released this week (17 February).
Case numbers were highest in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Ethiopia, Somalia, Zambia and Zimbabwe, driven by water scarcity, infrastructure issues, recurrent flooding and conflict, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said.
Cholera control is rarely prioritised outside emergency responses, making long-term elimination…