The epidemiological situation is deteriorating in the troubled province of North Kivu, in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo. There, more than 8,000 children under the age of 5 were infected with cholera between January and July 2023. Unicef, which warns of this situation, evokes “the worst cholera crisis” since 2017.
Across the country, at least 31,342 cases of cholera, with 230 deaths, were recorded during the first seven months of the year, including many children, according to Unicef. The most affected province, North Kivu has more than 21,400 cases, according to the DRC Ministry of Public Health, quoted by Unicef.
Dangers of spread
“The scale of the cholera epidemic and the devastation it threatens should sound alarm bells,” said Shameza Abdulla, UNICEF DRC’s senior emergency coordinator, based in Goma.
According to this official, there is also the danger that the epidemic continues to “spread into the sites of the displaced where the systems are already overwhelmed and the population – in particular the children – are very vulnerable to the disease and – potentially – the dead “.
In 2017, a cholera epidemic affected all regions of the country, including the capital, Kinshasa, with nearly 55,000 cases and more than 1,100 deaths, it was recalled.
The organization is seeking $62.5 million to strengthen its prevention and response activities to the cholera epidemic over the next five months to help 1.8 million people, including 1 million children, it was said, adding that currently “the appeal is only 9% funded”.