Cameroon’s Capital Steps Up Mass Cholera Vaccination Campaign

By Sonita Ngunyi Nwohtazie

BUEA, August 21, 2023 – A five-day campaign against cholera has been launched at Bilik-City Bilingual Complex in Emana, Yaounde 1 following the damaging effect inhabitants of the locality have had to grapple with for the past months.

The campaign that began on August 16 will run till August 20.  Following this launch, teams will be deployed across the Centre Region to vaccinate all and sundry against cholera, from health districts to school campuses and even door-to-door.

The Head of the Djongoulo Health District in Yaounde, Dr Fils Emmanuel Minyem indicated that about 700 cases of cholera have been reported in his district with about 50 deaths recorded. He said, “Cholera must be kicked out of the Centre Region through this free vaccination campaign.”

Cholera is an acute enteric infection caused by the ingestion of Vibrio cholerae bacteria present in contaminated water or food. In its severe form, it can lead to severe dehydration and death within hours if left untreated. It is primarily linked to insufficient access to safe water and adequate sanitation. It has the potential to spread rapidly, depending on the frequency of exposure, the population exposed, and the context.

“I lost my six months pregnant neighbour to cholera,” laments Nadege, an inhabitant of Bilik. She adds that some other neighbours were also infected by the disease.

The Chief of Bilik, Berthold Bindzi Mvilongo added his voice to the locals to decry the water crisis affecting them. "There is no water in Bilik, the reason why cholera thrives here," he pointed out, according to CRTV.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) is currently sounding an alarm about cholera. "After years of decline, we are seeing a worrying resurgence of cholera outbreaks worldwide over the past year. Not only are there more outbreaks, but the outbreaks themselves are larger and more deadly,” said WHO’s Team Leader for Cholera and Diarrhoeal Epidemic Diseases, Philippe Barboza, at a press briefing in Geneva.

“Extreme weather events such as floods, cyclones and droughts further reduce access to safe water and create an ideal environment for cholera to thrive. As the effects of climate change intensify, we can expect the situation to worsen if we do not act now to boost cholera prevention,” he added.

Cholera is endemic in Cameroon. Since 2018, cholera outbreaks have been reported annually in various regions of the country including in the currently affected regions (South-West, Centre and Littoral). Several risk factors concur with the circulation of Vibrio cholera in the country, including limited access to safe drinking water and health care facilities in the affected areas of the South-West region and the capital city of Yaoundé, as well as cultural practices that contribute to unsafe WASH conditions.