The World Health Organization has warned of a sharp increase in cholera cases and deaths in 2023, with its head stressing that it is nevertheless “a preventable and easily treatable disease.”

The latest global cholera statistics showed that the number of recorded cholera cases in 2023 increased by 13 percent compared to 2022, reaching 535,321 cases, while deaths increased by 71 percent.

The Director-General of the World Health Organization, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, noted during a press conference that “cholera killed more than 4,000 people in one year,” despite being “a preventable and easily treatable disease.” The number of cases and deaths is likely to be “underestimated,” said Felipe Barbosa, head of the WHO team for cholera and epidemic diarrhoeal diseases, citing a gap in diagnosis due to the large variation in capacity between countries.