Over 3 million people in Sudan at risk of cholera: UNICEF

Khartoum (The Uttam Hindu) : The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) has issued a warning that over three million people in Sudan are at risk of cholera. In a statement posted on the social platform X, UNICEF highlighted that 3.1 million individuals, including 500,000 children under the age of five, face this significant health threat. The organization pointed out that vaccination coverage in Sudan has dramatically fallen to about 50 percent, down from 85 percent prior to the outbreak of internal conflict between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the Rapid Support Forces in April 2023.

The situation is exacerbated by the fact that more than 70 percent of hospitals in conflict-affected areas are non-operational, and frontline healthcare workers have gone unpaid for months. This disruption in healthcare services has created a fertile ground for the spread of epidemic diseases, including cholera, malaria, measles, and dengue fever, resulting in hundreds of deaths since the civil conflict began.

Sudan's Health Ministry officially declared a cholera outbreak in August, attributing the increase in cases to deteriorating environmental conditions stemming from the conflict and the use of contaminated water sources. The ongoing crisis has highlighted the urgent need for improved healthcare and sanitation measures to combat these rising health risks.