A cholera pandemic has raged for 56 years.
Yahya Arhab/EPA/REX/Shutterstock For more than six decades, a deadly pandemic has raged, killing millions of people and infecting tens of millions more.
Sadly, even with a million doses of cholera vaccine on their way to Yemen, things are likely to get worse before they get better.
This is all the more tragic because the disease is as preventable as it is contagious.
Cholera hotspots Outbreaks can be avoided by improving access to clean water, sanitation and hygiene in cholera hotspots, as well as vaccinating those at risk.
But now with support from Gavi, the vaccine alliance I head, this year will see the production of 17 million doses of a vaccine that doesn’t rely on clean water.
However, in practice, it is hard to get vaccines into crisis zones quickly enough to prevent an epidemic developing.
In 1950, two-thirds of the world’s population lived in rural areas, and just a third in urban areas.
At the same time, the sheer scale of modern megacities has the potential to outstrip vaccine supplies, limiting the ability to prevent or respond to outbreaks in this way.
To do so, we will need to better understand how the infection initially spreads and which vaccination strategies would be best to prevent this.

Over 2.7 billion people, or 40 percent of the world’s population, don’t have enough of it, and there are dire predictions that looming shortages and dwindling supply will lead to another war at the global scale.
According to estimates by the World Wildlife Fund, given the current consumption rate of fresh water, about two-thirds of the global population could face water shortages by 2025.
You will increase your global carbon footprint when you go to seawater [desalination].” However, technology has come some way since.
And on June 19, researchers from Rice University in Houston, Texas, and Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut, announced they had created a membrane that uses solar energy and a nanoparticle-membrane to turn salt water into fresh water.
In conventional membrane distillation (top), hot saltwater is flowed across one side of a porous membrane and cold freshwater is flowed across the other.
This off-grid technology is capable of providing sufficient clean water for family use in a compact footprint, and it can be scaled up to provide water for larger communities,” Rice scientist and water treatment expert Qilin Li, a corresponding author on the study, said in a statement.
IDE Americas, a Carlsbad, California, company that manufactures and operates desalination and industrial water treatment plants, is behind the world’s largest desalination plant in Sorek, Israel.
Miriam Faigon, vice president and chief technology officer of assets at the company, explained in a statement to International Business Times how IDE Americas keeps the costs down when operating a plant based on thermal desalination.
When there is waste heat or sufficient electricity available, as is often the case with refineries and power plants, thermal desalination is an efficient and viable solution,” she said.
Lake Baikal in Russia is the single largest surface fresh water body in the world, accounting for 22 percent of the total.

Waterwise: State budget includes funds for water projects.
California’s 2017-2018 fiscal year budget includes $17 million in allocations to tackle the Golden State’s drinking water crisis’ immediate needs, the Community Water Center reported.
In a separate announcement, the U.S. Department of the Interior Bureau of Reclamation announced seven grants for projects around California, including one in the Central Valley.
State budget The funds from the state budget are separated into three portions, the Community Water Center said.
The budget grants $8 million to the State Water Board program for emergency replacement of domestic wells and emergency connections to community water systems.
Last week, Self-Help Enterprises officially took over the domestic water tank program, stepping up on the county’s stead.
"This is a critical step in maintaining a commitment to the vulnerable Californians most affected by the drought, and provides needed resources to continue work toward finding long-term sustainable water solutions for them," said Tom Collishaw, President and Chief Executive Officer of Self-Help Enterprises.
"The funds included in the state budget will ensure continued work to provide relief to the thousands of Californians still impacted by the worst drought in our state’s history, and those facing other water emergencies," said Stanley Keasling, Rural Community Assistance Corporation’s Chief Executive Officer.
Other California residents are dealing with access to drinking water.
Federal grants The Bureau of Reclamation announced last week $4.24 million in grants for seven projects.

Work on a project to supply surface water to businesses and residents in the upper part of York County began Wednesday with some land-clearing along Mooretown Road.
The second phase of the Lightfoot Water Extension project will extend Newport News Waterworks service about 4 miles up to Bulifants Boulevard, allowing some people in the area who currently use well water to access surface water.
The project began in 2011 with the County Administrator entering an agreement with the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation and Newport News Waterworks to extend water service through the county.
The first phase extended the water line from Hubbard Lane, through Colonial Williamsburg property to Waller Mill Road.
Construction on the first phase ended at the end of 2016.
Money from the county’s water utility fund will pay for the second phase of construction, budgeted to cost $1.5 million.
Extending water service to this area of the county, which currently uses ground water wells, has been part of the county’s long-term plan to ensure "adequate quantity and quality drinking water for residents and businesses in the Lightfoot corridor," according to the project summary presented to the Board of Supervisors.
County spokeswoman Gail Whittaker, said that no lanes are currently closed because of construction.
The project is expected to continue until February 2018.
Reyes can be reached by phone at 757-247-4692.

Work on a project to supply surface water to businesses and residents in the upper part of York County began Wednesday with some land-clearing along Mooretown Road.
The second phase of the Lightfoot Water Extension project will extend Newport News Waterworks service about 4 miles up to Bulifants Boulevard, allowing some people in the area who currently use well water to access surface water.
The project began in 2011 with the County Administrator entering an agreement with the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation and Newport News Waterworks to extend water service through the county.
The first phase extended the water line from Hubbard Lane, through Colonial Williamsburg property to Waller Mill Road.
Construction on the first phase ended at the end of 2016.
Money from the county’s water utility fund will pay for the second phase of construction, budgeted to cost $1.5 million.
Extending water service to this area of the county, which currently uses ground water wells, has been part of the county’s long-term plan to ensure "adequate quantity and quality drinking water for residents and businesses in the Lightfoot corridor," according to the project summary presented to the Board of Supervisors.
County spokeswoman Gail Whittaker, said that no lanes are currently closed because of construction.
The project is expected to continue until February 2018.
Reyes can be reached by phone at 757-247-4692.

KILIFI COUNTY, Kenya– The next time you turn on your tap think of Kanze Kahindi.
She walks about 13 miles each day– which means she walks roughly about 45 hundred miles every year.
In Africa alone, where the burden of fetching water often falls to women and children, nearly 40 billion hours a year are spent collecting water.
"When we came here it was at 18 percent, but currently the access to clean water has improved to 62 percent which is a big relief to this community," Nayle said.
Soon Kanze Kahindi’s village will have access to clean water for the first time.
She used to spend four hours a day walking for water until World Vision drilled a well in her community a few years back.
"Our children are clean, they are healthy and they can go to school."
"For so long people would come to area clinics complaining about stomach aches and other problems related to poor sanitation and hygiene practices," said Karisa, a community health leader that’s partnering with World Vision.
One of the women who accompanied Kanze Kahidi to the pond that day was even carrying a little baby on her back.
Want to help bring clean running water to people in Africa?

KILIFI COUNTY, Kenya– The next time you turn on your tap think of Kanze Kahindi.
She walks about 13 miles each day– which means she walks roughly about 45 hundred miles every year.
In Africa alone, where the burden of fetching water often falls to women and children, nearly 40 billion hours a year are spent collecting water.
"When we came here it was at 18 percent, but currently the access to clean water has improved to 62 percent which is a big relief to this community," Nayle said.
Soon Kanze Kahindi’s village will have access to clean water for the first time.
She used to spend four hours a day walking for water until World Vision drilled a well in her community a few years back.
"Our children are clean, they are healthy and they can go to school."
"For so long people would come to area clinics complaining about stomach aches and other problems related to poor sanitation and hygiene practices," said Karisa, a community health leader that’s partnering with World Vision.
One of the women who accompanied Kanze Kahidi to the pond that day was even carrying a little baby on her back.
Want to help bring clean running water to people in Africa?

Calls for greater water use innovation.
Water usage was on the agenda at this week’s biennial conference of the Food and Agricultural Organisation of the United Nations (FAO).
At a joint FAO-Arab League event held during the Rome gathering, stakeholders called for Arab nations to develop innovative ways to tackle the major challenges of water scarcity and climate change.
FAO Director-General, Graziano da Silva said: “It is fundamental to promote ways for agriculture, and food production in general, to use less water, and use it more efficiently.
Population growth and the impacts of climate change will put more pressure on water availability in the near future.
Climate change, in particular, poses very serious risks.” Graziano said it is imperative that farmers are at the heart of initiatives to combat water scarcity.
He added: “Not only to encourage them to adopt more efficient farming technologies, but also to secure access to drinking water for poor rural households.
This is vital for food security and improved nutrition.”

Maori Party Candiate Rahui Papa says Water is a Taonga.
We need our water.
New Zealand really hasn’t come to grips with the value of healthy water.
Something is not right when it costs approximately 80c per litre to bottle and export water and the sale price is around $3.50 per litre.
New Zealand households pay $1.70 per litre for access to water in their homes.
All permits for water bottling and export should be put on hold until this anomaly and the wider issue of Māori rights and interests have been addressed.
Responding to the suggestion that the competitions should be a te reo Māori only event, Rahui takes the view that while the Ngā Manu Kōrero speech competitions are absolutely an excellent platform for rangatahi to develop their skills and confidence in te reo Maōri, they are also an important opportunity for them to sharpen their English speaking skills: ‘It is critical that our rangatahi strive for excellence in both English and Māori.
Indeed across all languages.’ Rahui’s daughter, Tangirau Papa, competed in both te reo Māori and English at last year’s National Ngā Manu Kōrero speech competitions held in Whangarei.
She will be taking the stage once again this year to compete in the senior Māori competition for Te Wharekura o Ngāti Maniapoto.
He gives his time to mentor rangatahi on speech-making based on his view that: Our job as is to see that the next generation have a better platform than the one we inherited so that they can do more.

Global Demand for Water Treatment Chemicals to Grow 5.3% Annually.
Gains will be supported in part by expanding regulatory requirements for drinking water and wastewater quality CLEVELAND, July 5, 2017 /PRNewswire/ — In 2016, global demand for water treatment chemicals totaled $25.4 billion which is forecast to rise 5.3% per year to $32.9 billion in 2021.
The best opportunities for growth in this market are expected in developing regions of the world, particularly in large, rapidly industrializing countries such as India and China and in regions with significant infrastructural development such as Africa, the Middle East, Asia, and Central and South America.
Not only will governments of developing countries continue efforts to increase access to drinking water and sanitation facilities, but the rising amount of industrial production in these areas will boost demand for water treatment chemicals in industrial markets such as electric power generation and manufacturing.
These and other trends are presented in Global Water Treatment Chemicals Market, 2nd Edition, a new study from The Freedonia Group, a Cleveland-based industry research firm.
The more mature markets in the United States, Western Europe, and Japan are projected to post more modest gains as consumers limit their use of water treatment chemicals by relying on higher-value specialty chemicals that can be used in lower dosages, or on nonchemical water treatment practices.
Furthermore, biocides will compete with disinfection equipment and will be restricted by environmental regulations in many regions, although biocide use will be prominent in developing markets.
More information about the study is available at https://www.freedoniagroup.com/industry-study/global-water-treatment-chemicals-by-type-market-and-region-2nd-edition-3537.htm Related studies include: About The Freedonia Group, a division of MarketResearch.com – The Freedonia Group is a leading international industrial research company publishing more than 100 studies annually.
More than 90% of the industrial companies in the Fortune 500 use Freedonia Group research to help with their strategic planning.
Additional Chemicals studies can be purchased at www.freedoniagroup.com, www.marketresearch.com and www.profound.com SOURCE The Freedonia Group