A Lion in Our Village — The Unconscionable Tragedy of Cholera in Africa

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Abstract
Inexcusably, the completely preventable ancient scourge of cholera rages among poverty-stricken and displaced people today, with as many as one in five persons with severe illness dying for lack of safe drinking water and sanitation and a simple therapy consisting of salt, sugar, and water. Cholera, a dreaded waterborne disease of centuries past, remains a troubling barometer — and often a fatal consequence — of inadequate access to safe drinking water and sanitation. Epidemic cholera is the indicator of widespread contamination of drinking water with human feces. As such, it is the bellwether of many less dramatic but equally fatal or disabling diseases that flourish in filth and a litmus test of our willingness to tolerate flagrant violations of the human right to clean water and sanitation.