Lebanon starts cholera vaccine programme

Lebanon launched a cholera vaccine programme on Saturday as it struggles to contain the fast-spreading disease.Starting in the northern parts of Lebanon, where cases have spread rapidly and the Lebanese health ministry said it hopes to give 600,000 doses in the next three weeks.

The waterborne disease was first reported in the country in early October and has now spread around the country with over 3,000 suspected cases. About a quarter of these cases are children under the age of five.

WHO worked with the Lebanese government to secure the doses which arrived a few days ago. The bacterial infection has surged globally across dozens of countries this year, with outbreaks in Haiti and across the Horn of Africa as well as the Mideast.