WHO declares cholera 'major emergency' as cases surge globally

The global resurgence of cholera constitutes a "major emergency" that necessitates immediate action, including vaccination campaigns and improved water and sanitation systems, said spokeswoman for the World Health Organization (WHO) Margaret Harris on Saturday.

After decades of progress in controlling cholera, the number of cases is on the rise once again, even in countries that had not seen the disease in years, according to WHO.

In 2022, 44 countries reported cholera cases, a 25 percent increase from the 35 countries in 2021. This upward trend continued into 2023. Recent outbreaks have been more deadly, with cases fatality rates reaching their highest levels in over a decade, said WHO.

In an interview with China Global Television Network (CGTN), Harris discussed the measures being taken to resolve the cholera menace in Africa, particularly in South Sudan. She attributed the resurgence of the disease to limited resources, marked by inadequate water and sanitation systems in countries dealing with conflict.

"In fact, it's a major, major emergency globally. We classified the global resurgence of cholera that we have been seeing since 2021 as a grade three emergency in January 2023, which is our highest internal level for emergencies. And this is due to widespread outbreaks, but also, this is the real problem, this is why it's come back; resource limitations. Countries are dealing with conflict, but they have got poor water and sanitation systems. They've got many people who are displaced, but they simply lack the means to prevent it, and also to treat it," said Harris.

South Sudan is facing one of the most severe cholera outbreaks, with the latest outbreak being reported at Renk transit center for refugees and returnees fleeing conflict in neighboring Sudan. Many of those affected in Sudan are people living in the internally displaced persons' camps where sanitation is poor, exposing them to higher risk of infection.

In an attempt to contain the spreading of the disease, South Sudan's government and WHO are now racing to administer cholera vaccines among internally displaced people in the capital Juba and the nearby regions.

Harris said that the vaccination campaign does help in curbing disease spread, but it's far from enough. She called for quick actions to ensure safe water and sanitation systems to break the transmission cycle.

"Vaccines help. They're a tool, but they are not the main thing. The main thing is getting clean water available to all people and separating that clean water from [the locations] where people use as a toilet. So, you've got to keep the sanitation, the toilet facilities and the water separate. And this is what's not happening. So, unless you can ensure that people have access to genuinely clean water, and it's not mixed at all with water that's where people are going to the bathroom. And when they are in camps, and they're displaced and they're in very difficult circumstances, that's a hard thing to do, but it's absolutely critical. Now the vaccines can help people not to have as severe an illness, but that's only one little tool, the main thing is really getting the water and sanitation systems, helping people understand how they get cholera, how to stop it, and really knowing where it is and taking actions quickly to break the transmission, the infection from person to person," she said.

Cholera is an acute intestinal infection caused by the bacterium Vibrio cholerae, which spreads through food and water contaminated by feces. It can be prevented with safe eater and proper sanitation. While it can be fatal within hours if untreated, timely access to treatment can save lives.

WHO declares cholera 'major emergency' as cases surge globally

A veteran agricultural scientist and deputy to the National People's Congress (NPC), China's national legislature, shared his decades-long mission to reduce the country's reliance on food imports and safeguard its food security by developing high-yield, disease-resistant wheat varieties.

Gao Derong, a researcher from the Lixiahe Regional Institute of Agricultural Sciences in east China's Jiangsu Province, detailed his relentless pursuit of better wheat varieties while taking a question at a press conference on the sidelines of the ongoing "two sessions", a major event in China's political calendar.

He has dedicated more than 30 years to wheat breeding and succeeded in the fight against Fusarium head blight, a serious fungal disease of cereals, including wheat and other small-grain crops, by implanting "disease-resistant genes" inside seeds.

"After 30 years of countless and repeated trials, we finally developed our first Fusarium head blight resistant variety in 2021. It exhibits strong disease resistance and high yield, with a yield of up to 600 kg per mu (0.066 hectare) in a demonstration plot. This means farmers can use fewer pesticides, produce more wheats, and secure a more stable harvest," said Gao.

Addressing the tight rotation schedule in the rice-wheat rotation system in south China, his team developed time-smart varieties like "Yangmai 25," which can be sown as late as December and still achieve a yield of 6,00 kg per mu.

"We have also cultivated a high-quality weak-gluten wheat variety tailored for biscuits and pastries, reversing China's long-standing reliance on imports. These grain varieties, like elite guard teams, help us hold our rice bowl firmly and contribute to securing our food security," Gao said.

As an NPC deputy, Gao extends his research from the lab to the field, gathering farmers' concerns alongside experimental data.

"My duty as a deputy is also written in the fields. 'Can we construct high-standard farmland at an accelerated pace?' 'Can we have more targeted agricultural subsidies?' These are the voices I often heard in the fields, which I carefully recorded like experimental data and transformed into suggestions," he said. Gao said he will continue working to enable the land to yield more grain, help farmers increase their incomes, and contribute to ensuring national food security.

This year's "two sessions," the annual meetings of China's top political advisory body and national legislature, opened in Beijing Wednesday and Thursday, respectively. As the world's second-largest economy embarks on the inaugural year of its 15th Five-Year Plan (2026-2030) period, these gatherings will serve both as a review of past achievements, and as a strategic compass guiding the nation's future development.

NPC deputy vows to fortify China's food security through seed innovation