3-20 | In the midst of a global cholera pandemic, that started in 1961 and has not yet ended, thousands of people remain at risk of illness and death from an entirely preventable disease.With a massive global oral cholera vaccine shortage, equating to demand exceeding up to four times global production capacity for the past two years, there is an urgent need for affected countries to adapt their existing approaches for responding to outbreaks.
9-7 | In mid-May this year, Hammanskraal in South Africa’s Gauteng Province became the epicentre of the second biggest cholera outbreak in the country this century, resulting in approximately 900 cases and 34 deaths.Cholera is not endemic to South Africa but according to Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) water, sanitation and hygiene expert, Danish Malik, climate change and other pressures are driving increased human mobility, “with the result that the frequency and scale of cholera outbreaks is rising.”
6-2 | Syrian refugees in Lebanon are finding it increasingly difficult to access vital medical services due to reports of forced deportation and restrictions on their freedom of movement. Teams from Médecins Sans Frontières/Doctors Without Borders (MSF) and their partners have heard from patients that the situation is being exacerbated by discriminatory rhetoric against refugees, creating concerns for their safety and an environment of fear.
12-1 | The number of cholera cases is rising at an alarming rate in the Haitian capital of Port-au-Prince, and in several departments (administrative areas) of the country, warns the medical organisation Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), calling for an immediate intensification of the response to the outbreak.
11-8 | The deaths of two boys while awaiting approval for emergency medical care are just two of many tragic cases featured in a new report by Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) that lays bare the cruelty of the long-term detainment of more than 50,000 people, the majority of whom are children, in Al-Hol, northeast Syria. Their stories, and others, have been documented in “Between two fires: danger and desperation in Syria’s Al-Hol camp”.