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Join on Telegram Casablanca – Sudan is grappling with its deadliest cholera outbreak in years, with Doctors Without Borders (MSF) reporting at least 40 deaths in the Darfur region over the past week alone.
The crisis, described as “beyond urgent” by aid workers, comes on top of more than two years of brutal fighting between the Sudanese army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF).
Since Sudan’s Ministry of Health first declared the outbreak one year ago, the country has recorded 99,700 suspected cases and over 2,470 deaths. MSF says the epicenter of the epidemic is Darfur, a region already devastated by war, mass displacement, and the collapse of basic infrastructure.
In Tawila, North Darfur, residents survive on just three liters of water per day. Contaminated water sources have become a deadly necessity. “Just two weeks ago, a body was found in a well inside one of the camps. It was removed, but within two days, people were forced to drink from that same water again,” said MSF project coordinator Sylvain Penicaud.
Read also: At War’s Two-Year Mark, Sudan Faces Worst Hunger Crisis in the World
Health facilities across Darfur are overwhelmed. Tawila Hospital’s cholera treatment center, designed for 130 patients, was forced to care for more than 400 in early August, with patients lying on extra mattresses on the floor.
“The international response must match the urgency of this catastrophic situation,” said Tuna Turkmen, MSF’s head of mission in Sudan, calling for a rapid scale-up of healthcare, water sanitation, and mass vaccination campaigns. “Survivors of war must not be left to die from a preventable disease.”
Sudan’s ongoing war, which erupted in Khartoum in April 2023, has killed over 40,000 people, displaced more than 12 million, and left millions more on the brink of famine.
Read also: Sudan Army Battles RSF Assault in El Fasher
