Nigeria loses $500b worth of biodiversity annually – Official

By : 'Sola Akinsanmi, Cornelius Essen, Ernest Nzor

Date: 30 November 2025 10:20am WAT

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World Health Organisation (WHO)

World Health Organisation (WHO)

The Federal Government submitted four emergency requests for oral cholera vaccines to the International Coordinating Group on Vaccine Provision as Nigeria confronts a growing caseload and rising deaths from the disease, according to a World Health Organisation report.

The document, obtained on Friday, shows that Nigeria had recorded 22,102 cholera cases and 500 deaths as of 26 October 2025, with a Case Fatality Rate of 2.3 per cent. Within the last 28 days of the reporting period, the country logged 1,320 cases and 33 deaths. The report states that global cholera transmission remains extensive, with 565,404 cases and 7,074 deaths reported across 32 countries in five WHO regions.

It identifies the Eastern Mediterranean Region as the most affected, followed by the African Region, South-East Asia, the Americas, and the Western Pacific. It notes that in October, the African Region recorded 13,253 new cases across 13 countries, a decrease from September.

The Democratic Republic of the Congo, Angola, and South Sudan reported the highest figures. During the same month, 272 cholera-related deaths were documented, including 33 in Nigeria. From January to late October, 223,452 cases were reported across 21 African countries, with South Sudan, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Angola accounting for the highest numbers. Across 18 countries, 4,955 deaths were recorded during the same period.

The WHO report indicates that global stockpiles of the Oral Cholera Vaccine averaged 7.9 million doses in October, remaining above the minimum target of five million doses reserved for outbreak response. It states that 50 emergency requests were submitted to the ICG in the first ten months of 2025, compared with 20 in 2024. Nigeria, Angola, Chad, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, Ghana, South Sudan, Sudan and several others collectively requested 67 million doses.

According to the report, 46 requests—amounting to 49 million doses—were approved, while four were declined. The WHO highlights constraints in the global and regional response, including limited vaccine supply, inadequate water, sanitation and hygiene infrastructure, surveillance weaknesses, personnel shortages, and difficulties accessing conflict-affected areas.

It warns that climate pressures, cross-border movement, and overstretched national health systems continue to drive transmission. In response, WHO, UNICEF, IFRC and partner agencies are tightening coordination, improving forecasting, and prioritising vaccine allocation based on urgency.

They are also urging increased global investment to strengthen national preparedness and response mechanisms. The report notes recent support from the Government of Japan, which provided commodities, equipment, surveillance tools, and training valued at $500,000 through the WHO to improve Nigeria’s cholera response.

Items worth $104,951 were handed over to the Federal Government via the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention in Abuja. According to the WHO, the intervention is intended to reinforce Nigeria’s capacity to detect, contain and respond promptly to outbreaks in order to reduce illness and deaths.

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