International Journal of Health & Allied Sciences

LETTER TO EDITOR
Year
: 2019  |  Volume : 8  |  Issue : 1  |  Page : 75--76

Worldwide implementation of the global roadmap to end cholera by 2030


Saurabh RamBihariLal Shrivastava1, Prateek Saurabh Shrivastava2, Jegadeesh Ramasamy2,  
1 Vice Principal Curriculum, Department of Community Medicine, Member of the Medical Education Unit and Institute Research Council, Kancheepuram, Tamil Nadu, India
2 Department of Community Medicine, Shri Sathya Sai Medical College and Research Institute, Kancheepuram, Tamil Nadu, India

Correspondence Address:
Dr. Saurabh RamBihariLal Shrivastava
Department of Community Medicine, Shri Sathya Sai Medical College and Research Institute, 3rd Floor, Thiruporur - Guduvancherry Main Road, Ammapettai, Sembakkam Post, Kanchipuram - 603 108, Tamil Nadu
India




How to cite this article:
Shrivastava SR, Shrivastava PS, Ramasamy J. Worldwide implementation of the global roadmap to end cholera by 2030.Int J Health Allied Sci 2019;8:75-76


How to cite this URL:
Shrivastava SR, Shrivastava PS, Ramasamy J. Worldwide implementation of the global roadmap to end cholera by 2030. Int J Health Allied Sci [serial online] 2019 [cited 2024 Mar 28 ];8:75-76
Available from: https://www.ijhas.in/text.asp?2019/8/1/75/252448


Full Text



Sir,

Cholera is a life-threatening disease which affects close to 3 million individuals each year and is responsible for the death of more than 90000 people worldwide.[1] As the disease spreads through the fecal–oral route, it is shocking that in excess of 1.7 billion and 2.4 billion people are drinking water from fecal contaminated source and are deprived of basic sanitation services, respectively across the globe.[1],[2] Acknowledging the facts that each death attributed to the disease can be averted by means of employment of the available tools and that the disease predominantly affect the poor and marginalized sections of the community, it is totally unacceptable and deserves immediate attention.[1],[2],[3]

Realizing the need to implement immediate measures to protect populations, avoid transmission and control the disease outbreaks, a global roadmap has been formulated to bring about an end to cholera by 2030.[4] The roadmap is devised by multiple international agencies and stakeholders and is based on the observation that the outbreaks of disease periodically occur in endemic hotspots and thus it is the responsibility of stakeholders to judiciously use resources, share good practices and experiences, and reinforce linkages between the affected nations and supporting global organizations.[3],[4]

It is anticipated that by the strategic implementation of this roadmap, at least 20 nations will eliminate the disease, no disease outbreaks will occur in vulnerable regions, and a 90% decline in the number of disease-attributed deaths will occur till the set time frame.[3] Further, significant financial gains are also expected to occur due to the reduction of the caseload burden on health systems, individual and family health care-related expenditures, and loss of productivity.[3]

The roadmap aims to move toward a world free of the disease, and focuses on three key strategies to achieve the same, namely ensuring early detection and prompt response to contain outbreaks (by measures such as active community involvement, strengthening of surveillance, laboratories and health systems, and deployment of rapid response teams), involving all the concerned sectors to avoid disease recurrence in endemic regions (through the use of oral cholera vaccines and better water, sanitation, and hygiene services), and by developing a mechanism to enhance collaboration (for technical expertise, advocacy, and resource pooling) and partnership at local and global levels.[1],[2],[3],[4],[5]

Further, the provision of improved water sanitation and hygiene (WASH) services has been emphasized extensively.[1],[5] Strengthened WASH facilities (viz., establishing piped water supply and chlorination facilities, household measures such as safe water storage or water filtration, safe sewage disposal, including latrines) remain the long-term solution for controlling not only cholera but even other diseases transmitted by fecal–oral route.[2],[3],[4],[5] In fact, many nations in the European and the North American region have not reported even a single case of the disease due to better WASH facilities.[3]

To conclude, the successful implementation of the roadmap will be the best approach to fight against the disease, and thus it is of utmost importance that all the stakeholders, including public health authorities, work in a concerted and coordinated manner.

Financial support and sponsorship

Nil.

Conflicts of interest

There are no conflicts of interest.

References

1World Health Organization. Cholera – Fact sheet No 107. World Health Organization; 2017. Available from: http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs107/en/. [Last accessed on 2017 Oct 04].
2Shrivastava SR, Shrivastava PS, Ramasamy J. Successful containment of the 2015 cholera outbreak in Iraq. Community Acquir Infect 2016;3:28-9.
3World Health Organization. Partners Commit to Reduce Cholera Deaths by 90% by 2030. World Health Organization; 2017. Available from: http://www.who.int/mediacentre/news/releases/2017/partners-reduce-cholera/en/. [Last accessed on 2017 Oct 05].
4Global Task Force on Cholera Control Ending Cholera – A global Roadmap to 2030. Available from: http://www.who.int/cholera/publications/global-roadmap/en/. [Last accessed on 2017 Oct 05].
5Shrivastava SR, Shrivastava PS, Ramasamy J. Strengthening water, sanitation, and hygiene services in health establishments: An urgent priority of WHO. J Res Med Sci 2015;20:1016-7.