Wednesday, 15 April 2026, 13:00–14:00 (CEST)
Background
Cholera remains a major global public health threat and a key indicator of inequity, disproportionately affecting populations in humanitarian and fragile settings. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), an estimated 1.3 to 4.0 million cases and 21,000 to 143,000 deaths due to cholera occur globally each year. Recent years have seen a resurgence of cholera, with more countries affected, higher case fatality rates, and outbreaks increasingly concentrated in crisis-affected contexts.
Humanitarian settings are particularly vulnerable due to disrupted water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) services, overcrowded living conditions, population displacement, limited access to healthcare, and insecurity. These factors facilitate rapid transmission and hinder timely detection and response, often leading to more severe and prolonged outbreaks.
Addressing cholera in these settings is critical to achieving the goals of the Global Roadmap to End Cholera by 2030. However, conventional approaches are often insufficient in complex emergencies, requiring adaptive, context-specific strategies. Critically, communities, civil society organizations (CSOs), and frontline workers play a central role in cholera prevention and response.
In this webinar, challenges will be highlighted and lessons will be shared so that successful strategies can be adapted and scaled in similar contexts; challenges can be anticipated and mitigated earlier; innovation can be accelerated and trust can be strengthened through more responsive and locally grounded approaches
Objectives
- Highlight key challenges in cholera prevention and response in humanitarian and fragile settings.
- Share practical strategies and operational lessons from recent cholera responses in crisis-affected contexts.
- Emphasize the critical role of communities, CSOs, and frontline workers in cholera detection, prevention, and response.
Tentative Agenda and Speakers
Introduction: EPI-WIN Science and Knowledge Translation, WHO
Welcome remarks: Dr Kai von Harbou, Unit Head, Community Protection and Resilience, Health Emergency Preparedness department, WHO headquarters
Key challenges in cholera prevention and response in humanitarian and fragile settings:
Caius Ikejezie, Technical officer, Cholera, Emerging Zoonoses & High Impact Epidemics, WHO headquarters
Practical strategies and operational lessons from recent cholera responses in crisis-affected contexts:
Otim Patrick Ramadan, Program Area Manager (Emergency Response), WHO African Region
National perspectives: The critical role of communities, CSOs, and frontline workers in cholera detection, prevention, and response, speaker tbc
ECHO perspective, speaker tbc
Q&A
Closing: EPI-WIN Science and Knowledge Translation, WHO