Why child-killer diseases like dengue, cholera and mpox have surged worldwide

A mother holds her son as he receives his daily injection while being treated for mpox at the Kavumu health center in Kabare territory, South Kivu region, DR Congo, on Tuesday, Sept. 3, 2024. (Bloomberg via Getty Images)
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Updated 26 January 2025
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Why child-killer diseases like dengue, cholera and mpox have surged worldwide

  • Three child-killer diseases witnessed major resurgences in 2024, fuelled partly by climate crises and conflict
  • Poor sanitation, displacement, and war-damaged infrastructure left millions vulnerable to fatal illnesses

DUBAI: When the UN launched the Sustainable Development Goals in 2015, it set out a bold action plan to eliminate premature death and needless suffering caused by preventable diseases by 2030.

With just five years to go, the world appears to be moving backwards. Indeed, 2024 actually witnessed an alarming surge in a triad of preventable or manageable child-killer diseases.

Dengue, cholera and mpox returned with a vengeance, claiming the lives of thousands of children. With their weaker immune systems, the young are particularly vulnerable to infection and often fatal complications.





Bangladeshi children suffering from dengue fever rest at a ward at the Mugda Medical College and Hospital in Dhaka on August 8, 2019. (AFP file)

This multifaceted health emergency has compounded the suffering of already stricken communities in impoverished countries and conflict zones, where climate change, inequality and underfunded health systems have left many without access to basic care or sanitation.

“Currently, about half of the world’s population is not fully covered by essential, quality, affordable health services, denying them their right to health,” said Dr. Revati Phalkey, global health and nutrition director at Save the Children International.

“Health systems are under enormous pressure to deliver universal health coverage, with the majority of countries experiencing worsening or no significant change in service coverage since the launch of the Sustainable Development Goals in 2015.”

According to the World Health Organization, dengue fever — a mosquito-borne disease that causes severe fever, pain and in some cases death — saw an alarming spike in 2024.

Dengue cases doubled from 6.65 million in 2023 to 13.3 million in 2024. The total number of dengue-related deaths globally last year was 9,600. The WHO estimates some four billion people are now at risk of dengue related viruses. 




A woman carries her children while workers spray mosquito repellent as part of a prevention campaign against dengue fever in Banda Aceh on January 22, 2025. (AFP)

Children who play outside with limited protection against mosquitoes are often more exposed and therefore more vulnerable to the virus than adults. The absence of mosquito nets where children sleep is also a key contributing factor.

In developing countries in Southeast Asia, parts of Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean, dengue fever is especially prevalent. Informal settlements in these regions often lack basic infrastructure for waste management, sewage or clean water.




Infographic courtesy of US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

These conditions offer a fertile breeding ground for mosquitoes and for the disease to spread. Meanwhile, rising temperatures associated with climate change have expanded the range of mosquito habitats, allowing them to flourish across a wider region.

The spread of dengue, sometimes known as “breakbone fever” due to the severe fatigue it causes, represents “an alarming trend” according to WHO Director General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebereyesus, with 5 billion people at risk of being infected by 2050.

FASTFACT

13,600

Deaths from dengue, cholera, or mpox in 2024.

Dengue is not the only danger. In Yemen, Sudan and Gaza, where conflict has displaced thousands and destroyed critical civilian infrastructure, cholera has become a major threat to adults and children alike.

A deadly bacterial infection spread through contaminated water, cholera is another consequence of poor sanitation. The infection causes rapid dehydration through severe diarrhea and vomiting, which can quickly lead to death if left untreated.

The UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East released a statement in June warning of a cholera outbreak in the Gaza Strip amid severe water shortages and damage to sanitation services.




A woman and children sit outside tents sheltering displaced Palestinians in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip on February 8, 2024, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas. (AFP file)

Several UN agencies have issued warnings about the high risk of infectious diseases in overcrowded refugee camps across the Middle East and North Africa, where displaced households have limited access to clean water and proper sanitation.

In Sudan, as of last November, the WHO reported more than 37,514 cholera cases across the country and at least 1,000 deaths. “We are racing against time,” Sheldon Yett, the UN children’s fund representative to Sudan, said in a statement in September.

“We must take decisive action to tackle the outbreaks as well as invest in the health systems underpinning the essential services vulnerable children and families in Sudan so desperately need.”




A health care worker attends to a young patient at a cholera treatment center in Gedaref state, Sudan,  November 2024. (Photo courtesy of UNOCHA / Yao Chen)

Despite efforts by the international community to provide vaccines and clean water, outbreaks in conflict zones have proven difficult to keep under control. The collapse of sanitation services, in particular, has left millions of children vulnerable to the disease.

Although the overall number of cholera cases worldwide fell by 16 percent in 2024, there has been a 126 percent spike in the number of deaths as a result of the disease.

Another health crisis threatening the world’s children is mpox, formerly known as monkeypox. The virus reemerged in 2024 to devastating effect across parts of Africa, with children suffering the most severe consequences.

Once a rare disease confined to rural areas of Central and West Africa, mpox has now become a significant public health crisis with thousands of reported infections, particularly among children under the age of five.

Mpox, contracted through contact with infected people and animals, bodily fluids and contaminated objects, causes fever, rashes, and painful lesions that in turn can lead to other illnesses and afflictions such as pneumonia and blindness.

While it can be controlled using vaccines, such resources remain scarce in parts of Africa. Having already been overwhelmed by Ebola and malaria, the region’s health systems are stretched to the limit, leaving treatment out of reach for thousands of children.

Moreover, poor sanitation, crowded living conditions, and rapid urbanization have increased the risk of transmission.




Dr. Robert Musole, medical director of the Kavumu hospital, visits patients recovering from mpox in the village of Kavumu, 30km north of Bukavu in eastern DR Congo on August 24, 2024. (AFP file)

Children in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo have been the worst affected by the mpox virus, with the WHO declaring the outbreak a public health emergency of international concern. Around 75 percent of cases are in children under the age of 10.

The surge in these diseases reflects the broader, interconnected crises faced by the world, where the most vulnerable populations are left with limited means to recover and adapt.

In wealthier countries, child deaths resulting from cholera and dengue have dropped significantly thanks to well-functioning sanitation services and accessible healthcare systems that have weathered the blows of the coronavirus pandemic.




A boy carries a child to receive treatment at a medical centre near a camp for people displaced by conflict in Abs in Yemen's Hajjah province on August 27, 2024. (AFP)

However, in low income countries, particularly those in the midst of conflict, healthcare systems are extremely vulnerable, with medical staff overstretched, medicines in short supply, and wards overwhelmed by the sick and wounded.

The grim reality for millions of children across the world underscores the urgent need for global action.

“We need greater global investments to build strong health systems that are able to deliver essential health services, especially vaccines and essential medicines, while responding to global health emergencies including emerging issues like mpox,” said Dr. Phalkey.




A medic gives the cholera vaccination to a child in the town of Maaret Misrin in the rebel-held northern part of the northwestern Idlib province on March 7, 2023. (AFP

“It is time for governments and the international community to step up and ensure all children are protected against disease and have access to adequate health services when they need them and where they need them.

“Every child has the right to survive and thrive, and it is our collective responsibility to deliver on this.”
 

 


Greenpeace Denmark launches fake tourism ad to highlight pollution

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Greenpeace Denmark launches fake tourism ad to highlight pollution

“We are inviting Europeans to discover the wonders of Denmark’s agricultural landscape,” Fromberg told
Greenpeace believes that Denmark has repeatedly violated the EU Water Framework Directive

COPENHAGEN: Discover a dying sea or cycle through protected natural areas covered in asphalt? A tourism campaign by Greenpeace’s Danish branch seeks to highlight environmental pollution in the Nordic country.
“Through the campaign, which is available on social networks as well as on billboards in Brussels and Warsaw, we are inviting Europeans to discover the wonders of Denmark’s agricultural landscape,” Christian Fromberg, head of agriculture and nature at Greenpeace Denmark, told AFP Thursday.
With a tone of sarcasm Fromberg went on to describe the sights: “Here we find asphyxiated seas littered with mysterious brown sludge, car parks and golf courses that are in officially protected natural areas.”
In the Scandinavian country, which prides itself on being a leader in the combating climate change, human activities, particularly waste from agriculture, have suffocated marine ecosystems.
The equivalent of 7,500 square kilometers (2,896 square miles) of the waters around the country, or 17 percent of the surface area of mainland Denmark, has been affected by deoxygenation, leading to the disappearance of marine flora and fauna, according to the Danish Environmental Protection Agency.
“The campaign is a cry for help to the European Union to enforce the environmental regulations systematically violated by the Danish government,” Fromberg said.
Greenpeace believes that Denmark, which takes over the presidency of the European Union in July, has repeatedly violated the EU Water Framework Directive, which requires member states to implement measures to ensure healthy aquatic ecosystems.
“The current government will not take the necessary measures to revitalize our seas and protect our environment,” Fromberg said.
At the same time, a broad majority of Danish politicians have agreed to introduce a carbon tax on livestock farming by 2030.
Denmark has also committed to make agriculture greener, aiming to reduce nitrogen emissions by 13,780 tons a year by 2027.

Russia and Ukraine report attacks despite Moscow-declared truce as Kyiv ratifies minerals deal

Updated 18 min 5 sec ago
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Russia and Ukraine report attacks despite Moscow-declared truce as Kyiv ratifies minerals deal

  • Russian bombs meanwhile struck northeast Ukraine in the opening hours of Moscow’s unilateral ceasefire
  • Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha accused Russia of violating its own ceasefire 734 times between midnight and midday Thursday

KYIV: Russia and Ukraine both reported attacks on their forces on the first day of a 72-hour ceasefire called by Russian President Vladimir Putin, while Ukraine’s parliament unanimously approved a landmark minerals deal with the US.
The ratification is a key step in setting the deal in motion. It would allow Washington access to Ukraine’s largely untapped minerals, deepen strategic ties and create a joint investment fund with the US for the reconstruction of Ukraine.
Parliament approved the agreement with 338 members voting in favor out of the required 226 votes, Ukrainian lawmaker Yaroslav Zheleznyak wrote on his Telegram account. No lawmaker voted against it or abstained.
“This document is not merely a legal construct, it is the foundation of a new model of interaction with a key strategic partner,” Ukrainian Economy Minister Yuliia Svyrydenko wrote on X.


Russian bombs meanwhile struck northeast Ukraine in the opening hours of Moscow’s unilateral ceasefire, killing at least one civilian, Ukrainian officials said. Artillery assaults took place across the 1,000-kilometer (620-mile) front line, although with less intensity than in the previous 24 hours, officials said.
The ceasefire coincides with Russia’s biggest secular holiday, the 80th anniversary of victory over Nazi Germany. Kyiv has pressed for a longer-term ceasefire.
Putin on Thursday welcomed Chinese President Xi Jinping in the Kremlin. Xi, who Putin earlier described as “our main guest” at Friday’s Victory Day festivities, arrived in Russia on Wednesday for a four-day visit.
Both sides list attacks since the Moscow-declared truce
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha accused Russia of violating its own ceasefire 734 times between midnight and midday Thursday. He called the ceasefire a “farce” on the social media platform X.
He said Russia carried out 63 assault operations along the front line, 23 of which were still ongoing as of midday. Ukraine “responds appropriately” and is actively sharing information about the attacks with the U.S, the European Union and others. “We will not let Putin fool anyone when he does not even keep his own word,” Sybiha said.
Russian attacks also took place near Chasiv Yar in the Donetsk region on Thursday morning, a press officer of Ukraine’s 24th Mechanized Brigade, Oleh Petrasiuk, told The Associated Press via phone.
One person died and two were wounded when Russian forces dropped guided air bombs on residential areas near the border in the northeast Sumy region, the regional prosecutor’s office said.
Large-scale missile and drone attacks, which have been a near-daily occurrence in Ukraine in recent weeks, were not recorded since 8:30 p.m. Wednesday, Ukraine’s air force said.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky had previously cast doubt on the ceasefire, calling it “manipulation” as US-led peace efforts stalled. “For some reason, everyone is supposed to wait until May 8 before ceasing fire — just to provide Putin with silence for his parade,” Zelensky said.
In March, the United States proposed a 30-day truce in the war, which Ukraine accepted, but the Kremlin has held out for ceasefire terms more to its liking.
Russia’s Defense Ministry meanwhile accused Ukrainian forces of attacking its positions and said its forces would continue to “mirror” Ukraine’s actions during the Kremlin’s ceasefire.
The regions of Belgorod, Lipetsk, Orenburg, Ryazan and Tambov came under a drone threat alert overnight, but there were no reports of any drones being shot down or intercepted. Russia’s civil aviation authority Rosaviatsia also briefly imposed restrictions on flights to and from the airport in Nizhny Novgorod.
Putin praises relations with Xi
In welcoming Xi, Putin said that “the brotherhood of arms between our peoples, which developed during the harsh war years, is one of the fundamental foundations of modern Russian-Chinese relations of comprehensive partnership and strategic cooperation.”
He added that Moscow and Beijing were developing ties “for the benefit of the peoples of both countries and not against anyone.”
Xi, in turn, said that “history and reality have fully proved that the continuous development and deepening of China-Russia relations is a necessity for the friendship between the two peoples from generation to generation.” He also called for safeguarding “international fairness and justice.”
Putin and Xi have met over 40 times and developed strong personal ties that bolstered the countries’ “strategic partnership” as both face tensions with the West.
China has offered robust diplomatic support to Moscow after its 2022 full-scale invasion of Ukraine and has emerged as a top market for Russian oil and gas, helping fill the Kremlin’s war coffers. Russia has relied on China as the main source of machinery and electronics to keep its military machine running after Western sanctions curtailed high-tech supplies.


King Charles leads UK service to mark end of WWII

Britain’s King Charles III and Queen Camilla arrive to attend a Service of Thanksgiving at Westminster Abbey on V-E Day.
Updated 58 min 2 sec ago
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King Charles leads UK service to mark end of WWII

  • Eighty years ago on May 8, 1945, central London was thronged with huge crowds celebrating the end of the war
  • In a radio address to the nation Churchill announced that the day would be “Victory in Europe Day”

LONDON: King Charles III on Thursday joined veterans and other members of the royal family at London’s Westminster Abbey for a service to mark 80 years since the end of World War II.
Arriving at the abbey, Charles and his eldest son Prince William laid wreaths at the church’s tomb of the unknown warrior.
The King’s message on the wreath read simply: “We will never forget” and was signed Charles R.
William’s message, which was signed “William” and “Catherine,” added: “For those who made the ultimate sacrifice during the Second World War. We will remember them.”
This year’s commemorations have had an extra poignancy due to the great age of the dwindling numbers of surviving veterans.
War-time prime minister Winston Churchill’s 10-year-old great-great-grandson Alexander lit a candle of peace during the service, which was preceded by a nationwide two-minute silence.
“It feels really amazing that I can represent my family and also the younger generation to know and remember everyone involved in World War II,” the younger Churchill said.
Other younger members of the congregation handed out white roses to veterans.
Charles, who is undergoing treatment for an unspecified cancer, was also accompanied by Queen Camilla, William’s wife Princess Catherine, also known as Kate, and other senior members of the royal family.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer and other politicians and dignitaries also attended.
Eighty years ago on May 8, 1945, central London was thronged with huge crowds celebrating the end of the war.
In a radio address to the nation Churchill announced that the day would be “Victory in Europe Day.”
He added: “We may allow ourselves a brief period of rejoicing,” despite the conflict with Japan not yet having ended.
Later that day the crowds even included the late Queen Elizabeth II, then a 19-year-old princess, and her younger sister Margaret, who were allowed to leave Buckingham Palace and join the jubilant crowds incognito.
The Westminster Abbey service featured a rendition of the favorite 1940s song “The White Cliffs of Dover,” readings of wartime letters to loved ones, and an excerpt of Churchill’s 1945 victory speech.
Before leaving, Charles and other members of the royal family spent time chatting to veterans and their families, some of whom are now over 100 years of age.
Kate and Camilla then led other royals in laying flowers at the Innocent Victims’ Memorial in tribute to all victims of war and oppression.
This year’s anniversary events will be the last major commemoration for which “anyone will still be alive who actually served in the Second World War,” monarchy specialist Robert Hazell of University College London told AFP earlier.
The four-day celebration which began on Monday was set to wrap up later Thursday with a concert at London’s Horse Guards Parade, with pubs allowed to stay open two hours later than usual.


Cardinals vote in the Vatican for a second day to elect a new pope

Updated 08 May 2025
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Cardinals vote in the Vatican for a second day to elect a new pope

  • The 133 cardinals had resumed voting in the morning
  • The cardinals have been sworn to secrecy in the centuries-old ritual

VATICAN CITY: Black smoke again billowed out of the Sistine Chapel on Thursday, the second day of the conclave, indicating that no new pontiff has been chosen after the second or third ballots. There are still two more votes possible later in the day.
The 133 cardinals had resumed voting in the morning, after spending the night sequestered at the Vatican residences. On Wednesday evening, black smoke poured out of the Sistine Chapel chimney indicating no pope was elected on the first ballot of the conclave.
The cardinals have been sworn to secrecy in the centuries-old ritual to elect a new leader of the 1.4 billion-member Catholic Church. To become pope, a cardinal needs a two-thirds majority, or 89 votes. This conclave is the most geographically diverse conclave in the faith’s 2,000-year history.
Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re, the dean of the College of Cardinals, expressed hope that a new pope would be elected within hours, according to reports in major Italian newspapers.
“I hope that when I return to Rome this evening, I’ll find the white smoke already rising,” he said, speaking from the city of Pompei on Thursday.
Re is 91 years old, which makes him too old to participate in the conclave of 133 cardinals who are electing the next pope and who all have to be under 80.
However, he has been prominent and delivered a Mass on Wednesday before the cardinals began their conclave.
As the Mass ended he was caught on a hot mic saying to Cardinal Pietro Parolin, viewed as a favorite for the papacy: “auguri doppi” (“double best wishes”)


Saudi minister visits Delhi as tensions rise between India, Pakistan

Saudi Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Adel Al-Jubeir and External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar shake hands in New Delhi
Updated 08 May 2025
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Saudi minister visits Delhi as tensions rise between India, Pakistan

  • Adel Al-Jubeir holds ‘good’ talks with Indian counterpart
  • India launched missile strikes on Pakistan on Wednesday following deadly attack on tourists in Kashmir last month

NEW DELHI: Saudi Arabia’s Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Adel Al-Jubeir made a surprise visit to India on Thursday to meet External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar, amid escalating tensions between New Delhi and Islamabad.

Al-Jubeir’s trip comes a day after India launched Operation Sindoor, hitting nine locations in Pakistan’s densely populated Punjab province and Pakistan-administered Kashmir, from where Delhi said terrorist attacks against India had been planned and directed.

Jaishankar said on X that he had a “good meeting” with Al-Jubeir on Thursday morning, during which he “shared India’s perspectives on firmly countering terrorism.”

India said Wednesday’s missile strikes were in response to an attack on tourists near the resort town of Pahalgam in Indian-administered Kashmir on April 22, in which 26 people — 25 Indians and one Nepali citizen — were killed.

At least 31 people were killed in the retaliatory strikes, Pakistani officials said. With the two militaries engaged in escalating exchanges, world leaders have urged both sides to exercise restraint and called for a de-escalation of hostilities.

Kashmir has been the subject of dispute since the 1947 partition of the Indian subcontinent into Hindu-majority India and Muslim-majority Pakistan.

Both countries claim the Himalayan region in full and rule in part, and have fought two of their three wars over it.

Indian-administered Kashmir has for decades witnessed outbreaks of separatist insurgency to resist control from the government in Delhi, which accuses Pakistan of arming and training militants since 1989. Islamabad denies the allegations, saying it offers only moral and diplomatic support to the Kashmiri people in their struggle for self-determination.