ADDIS ABABA: The Ethiopian government has launched a cholera vaccination campaign in the southwestern part of the country, targeting about one million people at risk.
In a statement issued on Sunday, the Ethiopian Ministry of Health said the vaccination will be conducted in all zones of the country's Gambella Region and refugee camps during the coming week.
It came as the World Health Organisation (WHO) and various other humanitarian agencies called for concerted efforts to contain the "rapidly spreading" cholera outbreak across the Gambella Region, bordering South Sudan.
Ethiopian Minister of Health Mekdes Daba, addressing the launch event, said that in addition to expanding access to cholera vaccines, maintaining environmental and personal hygiene are essential proactive measures to prevent cholera outbreaks.
On Monday, the international medical charity Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) warned that the humanitarian crisis is "rapidly unfolding" on both sides of the South Sudan-Ethiopia border, as escalating violence, displacement and "a widespread cholera outbreak" are pushing communities to the brink.
Noting that South Sudan has been grappling with cholera outbreaks since last year, the MSF said the latest wave, which began in Upper Nile State, is now spreading further in the country and across the border into Ethiopia's Gambella Region.
The WHO also raised the alarm over the rapid spread of the disease, warning that the outbreak, which was first detected in Gambella's Akobo District early last month, has since spread to eight districts and four refugee camps, Xinhua news agency reported.
Humanitarian agencies have called for urgent support to health facilities and the provision of safe water, as unsafe water and inadequate hygiene and sanitation are fueling the spread of cholera.
They said that the escalating clashes between the government forces and armed groups in South Sudan's Upper Nile State have led to increased cross-border movements, with refugees and injured people fleeing to Ethiopia, further exacerbating the cholera outbreak in Ethiopia's Gambella Region.