Cholera, Dengue Fever, Malaria Outbreak in Sudan

A crowd gathered in front of a medical laboratory to conduct a test for dengue fever, which is widespread in Gedaref State, eastern Sudan. (AFP)
A crowd gathered in front of a medical laboratory to conduct a test for dengue fever, which is widespread in Gedaref State, eastern Sudan. (AFP)
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Cholera, Dengue Fever, Malaria Outbreak in Sudan

A crowd gathered in front of a medical laboratory to conduct a test for dengue fever, which is widespread in Gedaref State, eastern Sudan. (AFP)
A crowd gathered in front of a medical laboratory to conduct a test for dengue fever, which is widespread in Gedaref State, eastern Sudan. (AFP)

Several states in Sudan have been witnessing an outbreak of dengue fever, malaria, and cholera after seventy percent of the health institutes went out of service due to the ongoing war.

The health ministry in Gedaref - the most damaged state - appealed to international organizations to provide support to eradicate dengue fever.

The cases of dengue fever, cholera, and malaria, especially in Gedaref, soared as the country faced a shortage of medicines and cadres.

Meanwhile, volunteers accused both warring parties in Khartoum of confiscating the medicines offered as aid.

Cholera has spread widely in the eastern Nile region (Khartoum Bahri), an area where many residents who have not left Khartoum still live.

Citizens from Gedaref told Asharq Al-Awsat newspaper that there is an outbreak of dengue fever and watery diarrhea.

Meanwhile, the ministry revealed that there are 250 watery diarrhea cases from which 15 died while there are more than 800 cases of dengue fever, and 10 of them died.

Director of the Health Emergency and Epidemic Control Department Anwar Banga announced the launching of the third campaign to eradicate dengue fever and watery diarrhea during the coming days and to radically end the pandemic.

However, he complained that there is insufficient funding whether from the government or humanitarian organizations.

Sudan Tribune newspaper quoted the spokesman for the East Nile Emergency Room in Khartoum, Moaz Shams El-Din, as saying that Alban Jaded Hospital received around 40 cholera cases in the period between 1-3 October and four of them died.

He criticized the army’s rejection of access to the medicines provided by the World Health Organization, noting that medicines were delivered to the Rapid Support Forces, highlighting the sharp shortage of medicines and medical cadres in the only operating hospital in the suburb of Hajj Youssef.

The cumulative report on dengue fever in Gezira showed about 82 cases of dengue fever between September 23-October 2, including 64 confirmed cases and two deaths, while about 62 patients were quarantined.

The Federal Minister of Health, Haitham Mohamed Ibrahim, disclosed that the dengue fever epidemic is extending across eight states: Red Sea, Kassala, Gedaref, Al-Jazira, Sennar, North Kordofan, South Kordofan, and North Darfur.



WHO Demands Space to Finish Gaza Polio Vaccination

Palestinian child is vaccinated against polio during the second round of a vaccination campaign, amid the Israel-Hamas conflict, in Deir Al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip, October 14, 2024. (Reuters)
Palestinian child is vaccinated against polio during the second round of a vaccination campaign, amid the Israel-Hamas conflict, in Deir Al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip, October 14, 2024. (Reuters)
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WHO Demands Space to Finish Gaza Polio Vaccination

Palestinian child is vaccinated against polio during the second round of a vaccination campaign, amid the Israel-Hamas conflict, in Deir Al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip, October 14, 2024. (Reuters)
Palestinian child is vaccinated against polio during the second round of a vaccination campaign, amid the Israel-Hamas conflict, in Deir Al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip, October 14, 2024. (Reuters)

The World Health Organization (WHO) on Wednesday urged Israel to ensure the necessary conditions to finish the job of vaccinating Gaza's children against polio, after reaching more than 150,000 with the required second dose.

Despite continuing Israeli military operations in some areas of the Palestinian territory, the second round of a polio vaccination campaign, aiming to reach more than 590,000 children under the age of 10, got under way on Monday.

"The total number of children who received a second dose of polio vaccine in central Gaza after two days of vaccination is 156,943," WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on X.

"The vaccination continues today. At the same time, 128,121 children received vitamin A supplements.

"We call for the humanitarian pauses to continue to be respected. We call for a ceasefire and peace," he said.

- 'Humanitarian pauses' -

As during the initial round of vaccination last month, the second will be divided into three phases, helped by localized "humanitarian pauses" in the fighting: first in central Gaza, then in the south and finally in the hardest-to-reach north of the territory.

Each phase is due to take three campaign days, along with one catch-up day for monitoring and for vaccinating any children who were missed.

"A minimum of two doses of vaccine are needed to interrupt poliovirus transmission. This will only be achieved if at least 90 percent of all eligible children are vaccinated in all communities and neighborhoods," Tedros told a press conference.

The vaccination drive began after the Gaza Strip confirmed its first case of polio in 25 years.

The disease has re-emerged in besieged Gaza, where the war has left most medical facilities and the sewage system in ruins.

Most often spread through sewage and contaminated water, poliovirus is highly infectious. It can cause deformities and paralysis, and is potentially fatal, mainly affecting children under the age of five.

- North Gaza concerns -

Rik Peeperkorn, the WHO's representative in the Palestinian territories, said the UN health agency was closing in on its target of reaching 180,000 in the central zone with a second oral polio vaccine dose.

Speaking from Gaza, he said 293,000 children needed to be reached in the southern zone and 119,000 in the north.

"We are concerned about the north because of the repeated evacuation orders, including for the hospitals and populations around that," he told the press conference.

"We have been successful with polio vaccination -- against all odds -- in the first round. We made a good start; we want to finish this job.

"We are very clear -- crystal clear -- that we will need an area-specific humanitarian pause, and this is also our assumption that we will get an area-specific humanitarian pause for the whole north of Gaza."

Peeperkorn said that above all, parents needed to be able to bring their children to the mobile and fixed vaccination points in safety.

"We cannot afford to falter in the second round. We need to stop this transmission of the poliovirus," he said, adding that WHO was "hopeful, and convinced, that this is going to work".

Israel launched a military campaign in Gaza after the October 7, 2023, attack by Hamas resulted in the deaths of 1,206 people in Israel, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally of official Israeli figures, including hostages killed in captivity.

The Israeli campaign has killed 42,409 people, the majority civilians, according to figures from the health ministry in the Hamas-run territory which the UN considers reliable.