April 24, 2024
Geneva, Switzerland
Good news raises hopes of a rapid increase in urgent production and supply to the many communities struggling with cholera epidemics, the number of cases of which has exploded worldwide.
In recent years, cases have multiplied worldwide: 473,000 cases were reported to the WHO in 2022, twice as many as a year earlier, and in 2023, still preliminary data showed 700,000 cases reported.
Currently, 23 countries are reporting cholera epidemics.
The most serious impacts are felt in Comoros, Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, Mozambique, Somalia, Haiti, Syria, Sudan, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
The WHO has therefore just approved a simplified version of an oral cholera vaccine, Euvichol-S ,a simplified formulation of Euvichol-Plus, with fewer components, which should enable higher volumes to be produced more quickly, the WHO said in a statement released on Friday, April 19, 2024.
It is produced by the South Korean group EuBiologics, whose Euvichol and Euvichol-Plus vaccines the WHO has already approved.
The new vaccine would have a similar efficacy rate to the more complex formulations.
Alarm bells were ringing, and stakeholders were eager to find a solution. To cope with the explosion in cases, the WHO even went from recommending two doses of vaccine to just one in 2021.
In fact, even though global production capacity in 2024 should be between 37 and 50 million doses, it was still far from sufficient to meet the needs of the millions of people directly affected by cholera”, points out the International Coordinating Group (ICG) – the organization that manages emergency vaccine distribution, which includes the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies and Médecins sans Frontières, as well as Unicef and WHO, the two UN agencies responsible for children and health respectively in a press release.
Cholera, which is contracted from Vibrio cholerae bacteria usually transmitted through water or food contaminated with faeces, causes diarrhoea and vomiting, and can be dangerous for young children.
Many of the world’s epidemics have high case-fatality rates, yet the disease is preventable with basic sanitation, access to safe drinking water, and is treatable.
According to the Vaccine Alliance (Gavi) and Unicef, the United Nations children’s agency, the WHO’s green light will help increase the global stockpile from 38 million doses in 2023 to around 50 million this year.
This WHO decision “represents a lifeline for vulnerable communities around the world”, said Derrick Sim, Vaccine Markets Manager at Gavi.
Humaniterre with AFP
