The attached representative of the World Health Organization (WHO) to the country Hala Khudoi reported Tuesday that the outbreak, which began in July 2024 in Kassala, has spread to the 18 states of the country.
So far there have been more than 113,600 cases and more than 3,000 deaths, a “case fatality rate” of 2.7 percent.
Speaking from Port Sudan, he said that last year he saw waves in White Nile and Jartum, among other states, as a result of the impact of the conflict and the increase in population movement. This critical situation has been aggravated by severely limited basic services, such as water, food and health, caused by heavy fighting in progress between the Sudanese army and the paramilitary rapid support forces.
Cholera is an acute intestinal infection that spreads through food and water contaminated with bacteria. According to WHO, it can kill in a matter of hours when it is not treated, and the death rates of cases above one percent indicate “serious gaps in case management and delayed access to attention.”
Mature conditions for the disease
The resurgence of cholera in Sudan has been fed by heavy rains and floods, overcrowding and lack of access to clean water in displacement sites and within the communities.
In the Darfur region, where cholera has spread since May, the number of cases continues to increase in the midst of “severe access restrictions” that prevent the response, including inaccessible roads due to the rainy season, Mrs. Khudari said. Two days ago, 12,739 cases and 358 deaths were reported in more than half of all the five states of Darfur.
In certain locations in western Darfur, the mortality rate of the case has been as high as 11.8 percent, he said.
Mrs. Khudari explained that who and the partners have been working to control the outbreak with a vaccination campaign in the communities of worse success. It began last Sunday “after weeks of preparations to overcome the challenges of access, transport and logistics.”
The campaign aims to protect 1.86 million people in six priority locations from Darfurs.
The WHO representative said that the “biggest challenge” at the launch of the campaign was “really getting the vaccines there.” He described the difficulties in delivering immunizations that save lives and support supplies through “long routes” to Nyala in the state of southern Darfur earlier this month, in the midst of ongoing security concerns.
El Pasher survivors
The preparations are ongoing to launch the campaign at the end of September in Tawila in the state of northern Darfur, which houses more than 575,000 people displaced internally, most of whom have fled from the besieged city of El Pasher.
Vaccines are being deployed in Sudan with the support of the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF), whose spokesman Ricardo Pires increased the alarm on severe cholera risks for children.
Children under five have been “disproportionately affected,” he told reporters, and so far at least 380 have died.
Access to treatment to save lives for cholera in Sudan is limited since the violent conflict of almost two and a half years has devastated the health system.
The outbreak comes at a time when “more than 70 percent of hospitals in areas affected by conflicts are not operational, with damaged or destroyed health centers during the conflict, without supplies and even the staff, as well as the facilities are often used as a refuge,” said Mr. Pires.
UNICEF spokesman also stressed the impact of “relentless” attacks on the country’s energy and water infrastructure that have eliminated millions of people, including many children of safe and clean water, forcing families to collect water from insecure and contaminated sources.