Mogadishu, Nov 4 (IANS): The World Health Organization (WHO) on Monday called on all stakeholders in Somalia to prioritise sustainable access to clean water and improved sanitation and support the widespread delivery of cholera vaccines to help address recurring outbreaks.

These actions can protect vulnerable populations and ensure that life-saving health services reach those most in need, the WHO said.

"Cholera remains a major public health challenge in Somalia, especially in regions affected by conflict and displacement, and with limited access to clean water and sanitation," the WHO said in a statement issued in Mogadishu, the capital of Somalia.

According to the WHO, Somalia recorded 768 new cholera cases in the last four weeks across 31 districts, with a rise in cases in the areas of Kismayu, Jowhar, Marka, Burhakab, Barawe, Borama and Baidoa.

Of these cases, 399, or 52 per cent, were female while 407, or 53 percent, were children under five years, Xinhua news agency reported.

After the latest outbreak in Mogadishu early this year, a door-to-door cholera vaccination campaign was promptly launched to prevent the spread of the disease, the WHO said.

With the support of the Somali government and other partners, the WHO polio programme vaccinated over 1.24 million people aged one year and older with the oral cholera vaccine across 12 districts in five states in May.

The global health agency also noted that since the early 1990s, Somalia has suffered multiple outbreaks of cholera which, due to poor sanitary conditions, have affected a majority of the population living in internally displaced camps.