NAIROBI, May 24 (Xinhua) -- The UN World Health Organization (WHO) plans to intensify efforts to eradicate cholera deaths in Somalia, officials said on Wednesday.
WHO Consultant on Health Emergency Planning and Implementation Khalif Bile Mohamud told journalists in Nairobi that since January, there have been 40,000 cases of the infectious diseases that have resulted in 700 deaths in Somalia.
"Through an integrated disease surveillance approach, we hope to reduce fatality rate to less than one percent of confirmed cholera cases," Mohamud said during a media roundtable on the pre-famine situation and impacts in the Horn of Africa region.
The Horn of Africa nation is currently in the midst of a severe drought and 6.2 million people are in need of humanitarian aid.
When infected by cholera, individuals present symptoms in a matter of hours and patients could lose lives in two days if they don't receive the right medical intervention.
About two months ago, the WHO launched a cholera vaccination campaign targeting individuals above six months old in the Horn of Africa nation.
Mohamud said that the immunization campaign, coupled with improvement in access to water and clean sanitation has led to a drastic reduction in cholera deaths.
"The success of eradicating a public health emergency is not determined by the size of the hazard but the effectiveness of the response," he added.
In order to ramp up the fight against cholera, the UN's health agency has established 83 treatment facilities.
The cholera treatment units have been specially designed to provide support to patients with severe cases of cholera.
Mohamud noted that medical facilities have achieved WHO human resource capacity standards in order to provide the most effective treatment.
