EU Moves To Contain Cholera Epidemic In Nigeria, Allocates Fresh €500,000

Princess-Ekwi Ajide Abuja…

Reports say around 1.6 million internally displaced persons and 1 million members of the local population in Nigeria are at risk of the cholera epidemic affecting the country.

At least 11,820 cases and 382 associated deaths have been reported in Borno, Adamawa and Yobe states.

It is on this backdrop that the European Union, EU, has committed to assisting Nigeria in its fight against the epidemic through the allocation of €500,000 from its Epidemics Tool

EU Commissioner for Crisis Management Janez Lenarčič said: “Nigeria has been facing many crises at the same time, including measles and malaria outbreaks, record levels of food insecurity and malnutrition, and catastrophic flooding which has been impacting negatively on the spread of cholera.

 ACCORDING TO HIM, THE SECURITY SITUATION HAS RENDERED ACCESS TO MANY COMMUNITIES INCREASINGLY CHALLENGING BUT WITH THE EU’S SUPPORT, HUMANITARIAN PARTNERS WILL WORK TO REDUCE MORBIDITY AND MORTALITY THROUGH EARLY DETECTION, AWARENESS RAISING, HEALTH EDUCATION AND CASE MANAGEMENT.

The EU had already allocated €100,000 to Nigeria in response to the floods affecting the country.

A statement signed by the Press Officer, EU Delegation to Nigeria and ECOWAS, Modestus Chukwulaka, said in October 2022, the EU also committed €700,000 million in humanitarian aid to support the fight against cholera epidemics in Syria, €100,000 million for the cholera outbreak in Ethiopia and €1 million for the cholera outbreak in Haiti.

The statement notes the European Union and its Member States are the world’s leading donor of humanitarian aid. Relief assistance is an expression of European solidarity with people in need all around the world.

With headquarters in Brussels and a global network of field offices, the European Union provides assistance to the most vulnerable people on the basis of humanitarian needs so as to save lives, prevent and alleviate human suffering, and safeguard the integrity and human dignity of populations affected by natural disasters and man-made crises.

The European Union helps millions of victims of conflict and disasters every year through its Commission’s Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations department.