- Due to high demand, the emergency stock was exhausted.
- Outbreaks have been reported in about 30 countries this year.
- Cholera vaccine is considered less profitable than others.
GENEVA: Global stockpiles of cholera vaccines are “currently empty or extremely low”, a WHO official said on Friday. To be born again of disease worldwide.
gave United Nations Health Agency The global death rate is rising and about 30 countries around the world have reported cholera outbreaks this year, about a third more than in a typical year, the WHO says.
“We don’t have any more vaccines. More countries are requesting (them) and it’s very challenging,” said Dr Philippe Barboza, WHO team lead for cholera and diarrhea epidemiology.
He was referring to the emergency stockpile managed by the International Coordinating Group on Vaccine Supply, which is managed by the WHO and other partners. Typically, it provides about 36 million doses a year. The vaccine shortage has already prompted the WHO to temporarily suspend the standard two-dose vaccination strategy in October.
Barboza, without elaborating, said part of the crisis was due to an Indian manufacturer’s decision to halt exports. He said a South African manufacturer was planning to start production but it would take “a few years”.
“It’s probably much less attractive to develop a cholera vaccine, so a vaccine primarily for poor countries, than to develop a Covid vaccine where vaccine revenues are high,” he said. A batch of more than 1 million doses arrived in Haiti this week.
Cholera is spread through contaminated food or water and can cause severe diarrhea. Many people have mild symptoms, but if left untreated, it can kill within hours.
“It is not acceptable in the 21st century for people to die from a disease that is so well known and so easy to treat,” Barboza added.
Among the outbreaks are countries affected by poverty and conflict, such as Haiti and Yemen, but the disease has also been reported in countries such as Lebanon, which until recently was a middle-income country, saying it was a “wake-up” call. Should be. other countries.