Save the Children International (SCI) has raised fresh concerns over measles and cholera outbreaks in Ethiopia.

Development Diaries reports that a cholera outbreak is affecting the Oromia and Somali regions, with at least 1,055 cases recorded, including 28 deaths, since September 2022.

Children, according to SCI, are now facing a growing risk of disease, raising fears for the many vulnerable children already suffering from malnutrition.

The child rights organisation, in a statement, said in the past month alone, more than 316 cases have been reported in the two regions, a 30 percent jump from 739 cases at the end of December 2022, with one million people at risk of the disease in the two regions.

Spikes in measles cases have also been reported with 357 new measles cases and six deaths reported in the last week of January alone, according to health authorities.

A deadly combination of severe water shortages, poor hygiene and sanitation services, including open defecation and lack of water treatment options, are driving the rapid spread of cholera, with severe drought exacerbating the situation.

‘In Ethiopia, more than 13 million people including 6.8 million children are in dire need of safe water’, the statement read.

‘The situation is likely to get worse as the country enters the January–March dry season. Forecasts predict that rainfall in the upcoming rainy season in April will be below average’.

Back-to-back droughts caused by five failed rainy seasons have left 12 million Ethiopians facing hunger as conflict and forced displacement exacerbate the hunger crisis in the country.

Photo source: Save the Children