The Global Task Force on Cholera Control (GTFCC) launched Ending Cholera: A Global Roadmap to 2030 (Global Roadmap) a strategy that aims to reduce global cholera deaths by 90% and eliminate the disease in at least 20 countries by 2030. It isorganized according to three main axes:
- Ensuring early detection and response to contain outbreaks; ⁽²⁾
- Adopting a multisectoral approach to prevent and control cholera in hotspots; and
- Establishing an effective coordination mechanism for technical support, resource mobilization and partnership at local and global levels .
Achieving these global objectives requires effective implementation of multisectoral cholera control interventions at the country level. The GTFCC has identified five pillars that form the basis of effective cholera control strategies and require strong coordination:
- Surveillance and reporting
- Health care system strengthening
- Use of oral cholera vaccine (OCV)
- Water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH)
- Community engagement.
In countries affected by cholera today, context-specific interventions should be identified for each of these five pillars and organized in a National Cholera Plan for Control or Elimination (NCP).
An NCP is a multisectoral and comprehensive document that states a country's goal regarding cholera control or elimination and details all aspects of the national cholera prevention and control strategy. The NCP should be country-led and context-specific
All relevant ministries, government agencies and institutions, including those outside the health sector, should be involved in the NCP development, implementation and monitoring. The activities included in the NCP should be budgeted and aligned with the objectives and axes stated in the Global Roadmap.
An NCP is also a dynamic, multi-year and operational document that contains detailed implementation and monitoring plans. In its NCP, a country will define milestones to measure progress and implement any corrective action to improve results and efforts toward the goals set. As activities move forward, the operational plans should be reviewed and revised on a regular basis - at a minimum annually - and updated to reflect ongoing cholera epidemiology.
National Cholera Plans may be built upon or be integrated into existing plans (e.g, cholera preparedness and response plans, National Action Plan for Health Security, etc.), initiatives (e.g., water, sanitation and hygiene for all) or programmes (e.g., national diarrheal disease programme), and should not impede or replace what has already been developed
It is important to note, the development and implementation of NCPs should be guided by universal values, in line with the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development .These values include a human rights-based approach (including gender equality and women's empowerment) and should be all-inclusive .The activities conducted as part of the NCP should be carried out equally - without discrimination of any sort - and should focus on the most vulnerable and marginalized members of society.
The GTFCC can support countries throughout the development process and can actively contribute technical support for the implementation of activities once the plan is endorsed at national level. The GTFCC has established an Independent Review Panel ⁽³⁾ (IRP), which is a team of impartial experts responsible for providing rigorous and independent technical assessment of country NCPs .
