World News in Brief: Cholera surges worldwide, DR Congo update, WHO leads global health emergency exercise

The UN health agency registered almost 810,000 cases and 5,900 deaths from the preventable disease in 2024; that’s about 50 per cent higher than the previous year, according to Dr Philippe Barboza, who leads WHO’s cholera team.

He said the latest reported cases are almost certainly underestimates and that the disease continues to affect countries that were previously cholera-free.

Funding cuts

Recent cuts to international aid funding are also hindering the response, Dr Barboza said, giving the example of how in the previous two years, a donation of $6 million would have allowed WHO to fully control any outbreak occurring in either Malawi or Zambia.

“But this amount of money is not available. So, this is a very major concern…outbreaks are...
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