The Democratic Republic of the Congo is confronting its worst cholera outbreak in a quarter-century, with nearly 2,000 deaths reported since January, UNICEF said on Monday. The disease tore through a Kinshasa orphanage, killing 16 of 62 children within days and underscoring the outbreak’s brutal reach, the agency added.
UNICEF spokesperson John Agbor said Congolese children should not suffer from a “wholly preventable disease” that continues to spread with alarming speed. Cholera, a severe and often deadly diarrhoeal illness, thrives where sewage systems fail and drinking water remains untreated. Health authorities across Africa warned last month of a sharp rise in cases in Angola, Burundi and other regions, noting a 30% surge from last year.
In Congo, ongoing conflict and widespread shortages of clean water are deepening the crisis, while funding gaps hinder essential sanitation and health services, UNICEF said.
Officials have logged 64,427 infections and 1,888 deaths this year, including 14,818 cases and 340 fatalities among children, with 17 of the country’s 26 provinces affected. Access to clean water remains critically low, with only 43% of Congolese benefiting from basic services and just 15% using adequate sanitation, according to UNICEF.
The government has outlined a $192 million cholera elimination plan, but the initiative faces significant financial shortfalls that threaten its goals. UNICEF is seeking about $6 million in 2026 to maintain rapid response operations aimed at containing the disease’s relentless advance. Agbor warned that without swift funding and coordinated intervention, many more lives could be lost.