Health
– HealthwiseEU releases €1.5m aid to fight cholera in Nigeria
By Deborah Musa
The European Union has released €1.5m in emergency humanitarian funding to Nigeria to strengthen efforts to contain cholera outbreaks, expand access to treatment and prevent further deaths.
The intervention is part of a €2.3m emergency funding package announced by the European Commission in a statement on Monday for Nigeria, Cameroon, the Central African Republic and Chad, amid a growing cholera burden across Africa.
According to the World Health Organisation, 61,888 cholera cases and 1,230 deaths were reported across 16 African countries between January 1 and May 31, 2026.
“Nigeria recorded 6,860 cases and 80 deaths during the period, including 5,798 new cases and 54 deaths in May alone, placing the country among those with the highest reported cholera burdens on the continent,” the report said.
The EU said Nigeria’s allocation would support the deployment of additional intervention teams, “the provision of essential cholera kits and the expansion of water, sanitation and hygiene measures in affected communities.”
It added that the funding would also strengthen epidemiological surveillance, particularly in hard-to-reach areas, improve case management and expand risk communication and community sensitisation.
“Under the intervention, public water points and household water supplies will be treated, while disease surveillance will be strengthened in inaccessible areas to improve the early detection and management of cases,” the EU said.
The EU Commissioner for Preparedness and Crisis Management, Hadja Lahbib, said the emergency funding was necessary as cholera continued to threaten communities without adequate access to safe water and healthcare.
“Cholera is preventable and treatable. Yet it still threatens lives when people lack something as basic as safe water and healthcare,” Lahbib said.
She said the funding was being released at a time when humanitarian needs were increasing while available resources were shrinking.
“Europe is not looking away. This emergency funding will help our partners act quickly, contain the outbreaks and protect the communities most at risk,” she added.
The EU said the Nigerian component would also expand community engagement and public awareness campaigns to educate residents on cholera transmission, prevention and the importance of seeking timely treatment.
Cameroon will receive €100,000 for outbreak containment and case management, including additional humanitarian personnel, essential medicines, cholera treatment units and oral rehydration points in some of the worst-affected villages.
The Central African Republic will receive €500,000 to scale up case management and vaccination, alongside water, sanitation and hygiene interventions, risk communication, community engagement, surveillance and case detection.
The funding will also support dignified and safe burials in the Central African Republic.
Chad will receive €200,000 to help break the chain of transmission by improving access to water, sanitation and hygiene, while supporting communities with surveillance and case management.
The WHO data showed that the Democratic Republic of Congo recorded the highest number of cholera cases in Africa during the period under review, with 28,567 cases and 815 deaths.
It was followed by South Sudan with 7,712 cases and Mozambique with 7,500 cases, while Nigeria’s 6,860 cases placed it among the countries with the highest reported caseloads.
The WHO, however, cautioned that reported figures could be affected by under-reporting, reporting delays and differences in surveillance systems and case definitions across countries.
Cholera is an acute diarrhoeal infection caused by the bacterium Vibrio cholerae and is commonly transmitted through contaminated food or water. Severe cases can cause rapid dehydration and death if treatment is not provided promptly.
The WHO has warned that outbreaks are becoming increasingly difficult to control due to conflict, population displacement, climate-related events, poor infrastructure and limited access to healthcare, particularly in rural and flood-affected communities.
The latest intervention comes months after the EU and WHO launched a €4.2m programme in May to strengthen selected Nigerian public health institutions, including their capacity to detect outbreaks earlier and share information more rapidly.
With the new €1.5m allocation, the immediate focus in Nigeria will be on containing transmission, expanding access to treatment, improving disease surveillance and ensuring that communities most at risk have access to safe water, sanitation and reliable public health information.
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