Health
UNICEF raises $1.8m as 25,074 Borno children battle cholera
By Stephen Angbulu
The United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund says it has raised $1.8m of the $25m in flexible funding urgently required to fight cholera outbreak in Nigeria.
In its latest situation report obtained by Saturday PUNCH from its appeals and situation reports portal, the agency said at least 25,074 children, or 44 per cent of all suspected cases nationwide, were battling the disease, mostly concentrated in Borno State.
The figures are contained in UNICEF’s Nigeria Sitrep on the “Cholera Response in Nigeria,” covering the reporting period of July to August 2026.
According to the report, 12,794 of the affected children were under the age of five, while a further 12,280 were between six and 14 years old.
UNICEF said the outbreak has infected 57,030 people and killed 357 nationwide.
The report flagged 105 deaths in Borno communities as being of particular concern, saying they highlighted “challenges with timely care-seeking and access to treatment.”
It read, “As at the reporting period, cholera outbreak continues to place populations across Nigeria at significant risk, with 57,030 suspected cases and 357 deaths (Case Fatality Rate 0.6 per cent) reported across 35 states and 183 LGAs.
“Transmission remains geographically widespread, while Borno State remains the epicentre, recording 55,452 suspected cases and 308 deaths across all 23 LGAs and 194 wards. Maiduguri, Monguno and Jere remain the highest-burden locations, with 86 per cent of cases reported in Borno.
“Children, displaced people, returnees and host communities remain particularly vulnerable. Reported suspected cases include 12,794 children under five and 12,280 children aged 6–14 years.
“Reported suspected cases include 12,794 children under five and 12,280 children aged 6–14 years.
“Of particular concern, 105 deaths occurred in Borno communities, highlighting challenges with timely care-seeking and access to treatment.”
According to UNICEF, Borno accounted for 55,452 of the 57,030 suspected cases nationwide, or 97.2 per cent, and 308 of the 357 deaths, or 86.3 per cent, spread across all 23 of the state’s local government areas and 194 wards.
On funding, the Resource Mobilisation section of the report noted that “US$1.8m has been received, leaving US233m funding gap. The funding received, and overall financial gap, are not yet fully quantified in the available source documents.”
Of the $25m UNICEF says it needs, $8.5m is earmarked for water, sanitation and hygiene and infection prevention and control activities, the single largest share, followed by $4.5m for case management.
It also earmarked $3m for surveillance, laboratory work and information management, $2.5m each for social and behaviour change communication and for logistics and supply operations, $2m for oral cholera vaccine support, $1.5m for continuity of essential services, and $500,000 for coordination and incident management.
On the response, UNICEF said it had supported oral cholera vaccination reaching 2,804,654 people, about 95 per cent of the target population in Maiduguri and Jere, using close to three million vaccine doses.
A network of 78 Case-Area Targeted Intervention teams drawn from across the WASH sector conducted 8,808 targeted responses and reached 2,744 case-households, while 411 water points were chlorinated, 165,803 affected households were disinfected, and 147,117 households received Aqua Tabs for household water treatment.
Hygiene promotion activities reached approximately 862,000 people, including 566,803 people living in households neighbouring reported cholera cases, while mass communication through six radio stations extended cholera prevention messaging to an estimated 3.6 million people.
It said more than 3,000 latrine drop-holes were desludged, six emergency latrine blocks were established, and four boreholes were rehabilitated in displacement sites.
On health, the report revealed that the Borno State treatment network comprised four Cholera Treatment Centres, 31 Cholera Treatment Units, and 56 Oral Rehydration Points, offering 961 treatment beds in total.
UNICEF said it supported 97 surge staff, while the World Health Organisation trained 70 Emergency Medical Team personnel for deployment across eight Local Government Areas.
It revealed that Community and CATI referral mechanisms, combined with an estimated 5,000 referrals through Oral Rehydration Points, contributed to 55,372 patients being discharged following recovery.
State-by-state highlights in the report showed varied stages of response across the affected regions. In Adamawa, the report showed that suspected cases in Mubi North and Mubi South prompted the activation of Cholera Treatment Units and Oral Rehydration Points, alongside preparations for a reactive oral cholera vaccination campaign, with 312 response teams already trained.
In Bauchi, it said an Incident Management System was activated alongside intensified case search and laboratory testing. Kaduna state, it noted, inaugurated its own Incident Management System and developed an Incident Action Plan to guide case management and water chlorination efforts.
Gombe reported no new cases during the four-week period cited in the report, even as coordination and surveillance activities continued under the Rural Water Supply and Sanitation Agency-led Emergency Operations Centre.
The report attributed continuing transmission of cholera to a combination of gaps in trained health workers and treatment capacity, weak community surveillance, limited laboratory confirmation, inadequate access to safe water, sanitation and chlorination, and shortages of essential supplies, compounded by insecurity, difficult humanitarian access, misinformation, and stigma that it said were delaying care-seeking in affected communities.
It linked recurring cholera cases to poor water, sanitation and hygiene infrastructure, seasonal flooding, and displacement due to prolonged Boko Haram insurgency, with children under five and school-aged children being the worst affected.
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