The European Union has approved €2.3 million in emergency humanitarian assistance for Nigeria, Cameroon, the Central African Republic and Chad to support efforts to contain the ongoing cholera outbreak in the region.
The EU Delegation to Nigeria and the Economic Community of West African States disclosed the intervention in a statement on Monday.
The funding comes amid growing concern over the spread of cholera across Africa, with the World Health Organisation reporting more than 61,000 cases in the African region during the first five months of 2026.
Nigeria is to receive the largest portion of the package, with €1.5 million allocated to strengthen the country’s response to the outbreak.
The EU said the Nigerian funding would facilitate the deployment of additional emergency response teams and provide essential medical supplies, including cholera treatment kits.
Part of the allocation will also be used to improve water, sanitation and hygiene measures, including the treatment of public water facilities and household water supplies.
The intervention is expected to strengthen epidemiological surveillance, particularly in hard-to-reach communities, while improving case management, risk communication and public awareness.
In Cameroon, the EU has earmarked €100,000 for outbreak containment and case management. The funding will support additional humanitarian personnel, essential medicines, cholera treatment units and oral rehydration points in communities worst affected by the outbreak.
The Central African Republic will receive €500,000 to expand cholera case management and vaccination programmes, alongside water, sanitation and hygiene interventions.
The funding will also support surveillance and early detection, risk communication, community engagement and safe and dignified burials.
Chad is expected to receive €200,000 to help break the chain of cholera transmission through improved access to water, sanitation and hygiene facilities.
The allocation will also strengthen community participation in disease surveillance and case management.
Commenting on the intervention, the EU Commissioner for Preparedness and Crisis Management, Hadja Lahbib, said cholera remained a serious public health threat despite being preventable and treatable.
She noted that inadequate access to safe water and healthcare continued to expose vulnerable communities to the disease.
Lahbib said the European Union would continue to support communities affected by humanitarian emergencies, particularly at a time when needs were increasing while available resources were becoming more limited.
The EU funding is expected to complement national and humanitarian efforts aimed at containing the outbreak, improving access to treatment and preventing further spread of cholera across the four affected countries.
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