An estimated 80,000 children are vulnerable to cholera in West and Central Africa amid ongoing outbreaks and the onset of heavy rains, according to the United Nations.
Farhan Haq, deputy spokesperson for the UN secretary-general, said during a press briefing on Wednesday that active cholera outbreaks in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Nigeria pose a serious risk of cross-border transmission to neighbouring countries.
Chad, the Republic of Congo, Ghana, Côte d'Ivoire and Togo are already battling epidemics, while countries such as Niger, Liberia, Benin, the Central African Republic and Cameroon are under close watch due to heightened vulnerability, according to Haq, citing data from the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF).
In eastern and southern Africa between January 2024 and March 2025, there were more than 178,000 cases of cholera and nearly 2,900 deaths, according to UNICEF.
UNICEF has responded by delivering essential health, water, sanitation and hygiene supplies to treatment centres and local communities. In addition to supporting cholera vaccination campaigns, the agency is promoting hygiene awareness and urging families in affected areas to seek medical care promptly.
However, the UN warned that a more robust and immediate response is required.
“Urgent and scaled-up efforts are needed to prevent further spread and contain the disease,” Haq said.
To strengthen emergency operations over the next three months, UNICEF’s West and Central Africa office is seeking $20 million to expand support in health, water, sanitation, risk communication and community outreach.
The pro-independence coalition Kanak and Socialist National Liberation (FLNKS) has formally withdrawn its signatures from the so-called “Accord de B...
The U.S. government has shut down after Congress failed to approve funding. Non-essential services are paused, thousands of federal workers are left u...
NATO navies are ramping up defenses in the Baltic and North Seas as Russia’s so-called “shadow fleet” of deceptive vessels grows rapidly, raisin...
The Pentagon recommitted itself in a statement on Tuesday to scaling back its military mission in Iraq, a process that a U.S. official said will see B...
U.S. stock index futures fell on Wednesday as investors assessed the implications of the federal government shutdown, which threatens to disrupt the r...
The World Health Organization (WHO) has warned that Afghanistan is facing a worsening humanitarian and health crisis in 2025, with millions of returning refugees expected to stretch the country’s already fragile health system.
The United States and Panama have put forward a new draft resolution at the United Nations Security Council, seeking to tackle the growing threat of armed gangs in Haiti and to establish a more sustainable UN-backed security mechanism.
A quarter of the world’s population, 2.1 billion people, still lack access to safely managed drinking water, according to a new WHO and UNICEF report marking World Water Week 2025.
Deep funding cuts are pushing a generation of children in Sudan to the brink of irreversible harm, the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) said on Tuesday, as humanitarian support is scaled back and malnutrition persists across the country.
A day of mourning has been declared in Portugal to pay respect to victims who lost their lives in the Lisbon Funicular crash which happened on Wednesday evening.
Video from the USGS (United States Geological Survey) showed on Friday (19 September) the Kilauea volcano in Hawaii erupting and spewing lava.
At least eight people have died and more than 90 others were injured following a catastrophic gas tanker explosion on a major highway in Mexico City’s Iztapalapa district on Wednesday, authorities confirmed.
A powerful 7.4-magnitude earthquake struck off Russia’s Kamchatka Peninsula on 13 September with no tsunami threat, coming just weeks after the region endured a devastating 8.8-magnitude quake — the strongest since 1952.
Authorities in California have identified the dismembered body discovered in a Tesla registered to singer D4vd as 15-year-old Celeste Rivas Hernandez, who had been missing from Lake Elsinore since April 2024.
The pro-independence coalition Kanak and Socialist National Liberation (FLNKS) has formally withdrawn its signatures from the so-called “Accord de Bougival”, accusing the French state of misrepresentation and “brute force” tactics in New Caledonia’s decolonisation process.
The U.S. government has shut down after Congress failed to approve funding. Non-essential services are paused, thousands of federal workers are left unpaid, and both parties blame each other for the deadlock.
NATO navies are ramping up defenses in the Baltic and North Seas as Russia’s so-called “shadow fleet” of deceptive vessels grows rapidly, raising fears of espionage and sabotage against critical infrastructure.
The Pentagon recommitted itself in a statement on Tuesday to scaling back its military mission in Iraq, a process that a U.S. official said will see Baghdad command efforts to combat remnants of Islamic State inside its own country.
U.S. stock index futures fell on Wednesday as investors assessed the implications of the federal government shutdown, which threatens to disrupt the release of key economic data and complicate the Federal Reserve's policy path.
You can download the AnewZ application from Play Store and the App Store.
What is your opinion on this topic?
Leave the first comment