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As the world faced a dearth of oral cholera vaccines, the United Nations health agency announced that the supply of medication will double up to six million doses this year after it added another producer to its list of approved suppliers so that they can put up a fight against a disease that kills as many as 142,000 people every year, reported UN News Center. Last year, Sudan and Haiti requested from UN WHO for oral vaccine supplies so that they can conduct preventive campaigns. However, the requests could not be approved due to global shortage.

The new producer is a company from Republic of Korea that got the approval under WHO's pre-approval programme. According to the programme, only those drugs and vaccines will be sold to nations and international agencies that meet the standards of safety, efficacy and quality. The additional producer will help meet the shortage, low production, increased prices and unequal distribution of the drug. With another supplier, the increased demand can be met due to increased production, lower price and greater access to the medication, WHO said in a news release.

Cholera is a diarrhea based disease that can kill within a matter of hours if it is not treated in time. As many as 1.4 million to 4.3 million cases are reported every year. This disease is existent in 50 countries across the world. Many believe that climate change and phenomenon such as El Nino causing droughts and floods in various parts of the world may also be responsible for the outbreak of the disease. Cholera is known to strike poverty stricken countries where poor people do not have awareness or access to the existing drug, as reported by The News Journal