146th WHO EB Agenda Item 15.5: Cholera prevention and control – Delivered by Dr. Sadre Alam, First Secretary
Thank you Mr. Chair,
Despite global advancement in living standards in terms of access to safe water and sanitation, Cholera remains an important public health problem especially in context of humanitarian emergencies.
Although the cases and deaths due to Cholera are declining, early detection of and rapid response to cholera remain critical to containing outbreaks and reducing suffering especially amongst the most vulnerable, particularly under 5 children.
Being an Internationally notifiable disease under the International Health Regulations (IHR), 2005, India under its Integrated Disease Surveillance Programme combined the syndromic approach to detect the cases early, backed by a robust laboratory network for to enable timely public health interventions.
Mr. Chair,
In line with the WHO’s Global Task Force for Cholera Control guidelines, the future roadmap for India includes community-based cholera serosurveys, mapping of vulnerable areas and also evaluation of the acceptability, effectiveness and impact of the programmatic introduction of Oral Cholera Vaccine.
Although gaps remain at all levels in preparedness and response against Cholera, we believe that a collective sense of responsibility among all, in the government and non-government sector, health and non-health sectors and a community based approach holds the key to a Cholera free world.
Thank you.
