DRC facing cholera, measles outbreaks, U.N. says

Jul 16 2011

The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) has recorded more than 3,000 cases and 192 deaths from cholera since March, according to a U.N. report on the outbreak, VOA News reports (7/14).

Martin Nesirky, a spokesperson for U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, told journalists on Wednesday that the WHO and its partners are working with the DRC government to organize hygiene promotion campaigns, establish water chlorination locations and ensure free treatment for those infected, the U.N. News Centre notes (7/13).

In related news, WHO spokesperson Tarik Jasarevic told IRIN that a lack of government funding caused the stoppage of a follow-up mass measles immunization programs in several DRC regions, leading to 115,484 measles cases and 1,145 related deaths since September 2010 (7/14).