Kinshasa, August 19th, 2025 (CPA).- 3,670,509 (three million six hundred and seventy thousand five hundred and nine) people are expected to participate in the reactive cholera vaccination campaign in Kinshasa, has announced the provincial Minister in charge of Health on Tuesday, during the official launching of this campaign in the capital of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). « 3,670,509 people are targeted for this reactive cholera vaccination campaign, including children and adults aged one year and older, representing 96.5% of the population in health zones with a high incidence of cholera. The vaccine will be administered orally, using a door-to-door strategy wherever the targets are found, in order to vaccinate and reduce the incidence, » has declared Patricien Gongo, provincial minister in charge of Health Kinshasa.
According to him, the existence of active cholera sites in the city of Kinshasa, mainly in the health zones of Binza Meteo, Bumbu, Kingabwa, Limete, Kokolo, Mont Ngafula II and Ngiri Ngiri, has prompted the coordination of the fight against cholera to agree and organise the reactive vaccination campaign in accordance with the multisectorial cholera plan, which aims to reach at least 90% of the target population pending the independent monitoring report to be prepared by the WHO. “This campaign aims to provide equitable access to the vaccine by targeting the population of all targeted health zones aged one year and older. It is part of a comprehensive approach of prevention and of reinforcement of the health system, guaranteeing a rapid and effective response to cholera as well as to other health threats, » has emphasised Dr Gongo.
The WHO and the other partners determined to protect the population against cholera
For the World Health Organisation (WHO), the scale of the 2025 cholera epidemic, with weekly averages of more than 2,000 cases reported in the middle of the dry season (usually the period when case reporting declines) and more than 17 of the country’s 26 provinces affected, requires large-scale interventions. ‘It is in this context that, in addition to the efforts made by the government of the Republic through the National Institute of Public Health, the WHO and its partners Africa CDC, UNICEF, MSF and GAVI have also mobilised to support strategies to control this exceptional epidemic explosion,’ has said the representative of the partners and WHO Emergency Team Leader, Dr Mouctar Dialo. Dr Dialo has said that thanks to the support of the ICG and Gavi, 3.6 million doses of OCV (Euvichol and Euvichol-Plus) have been mobilised for DRC.
‘The campaign we are launching today aims to protect all people aged one year and older in the targeted areas and reduce cholera-related mortality and morbidity,’ he has specified. For the WHO, the goal is clear: to reduce cholera-related deaths by 90% and eliminate the disease as a public health threat by 2030.
CPA/