Cholera outbreak leaves 172 dead in a week across Sudan, primarily in Khartoum state where water treatment stations destroyed by the RSF no longer dispense clean water, accounting for 90% of the cases.
Sudan grapples with an escalating cholera outbreak, as the Ministry of Health reports over 2,700 infections and 172 deaths in the past week. On Tuesday, the health authority declared that more than 90% of these cases have occurred in Khartoum state, where ongoing conflict has disrupted water and electricity supplies.
Strides made by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in the southern parts of the country during the escalating conflict resulted in drone strikes that have caused the ruin of power stations and diminished the supply of water and electricity in recent weeks.
In regions outside of Khartoum, cholera cases have also surfaced in the south, center, and north of the country. Notably, this waterborne illness is endemic to Sudan; however, outbreaks have become increasingly severe and frequent since the onset of the war.
A week ago, the ministry reported that more than 2,300 cases had led to the death of 51 people, with Khartoum state accounting for 90% of these fatalities. The RSF launched a series of drone strikes across Khartoum this month, including on three power stations, before being expelled from their final stronghold positions in the capital last week.
Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) stated that the resulting electrical outages have taken water treatment facilities offline. The absence of electrical power has disrupted the local water network, forcing residents to resort to unsafe water sources.
Cholera is an acute diarrheal disease contracted through ingestion of contaminated water or food. Despite being easily preventable and treatable with timely medical care and access to clean water and sanitation, the disease can be fatal if left untreated within hours.
Sudan's healthcare system, already stretched thin by the ongoing conflict, is reportedly approaching a breaking point by the World Health Organization. According to statistics from the doctors' union, up to 90% of hospitals in the country have temporarily closed due to fighting, with health facilities regularly becoming targeted by militants.
With the ongoing war entering its third year, it has resulted in the death of tens of thousands, displacement of 13 million people, and created the world's largest displacement and hunger crisis. The conflict's toll on the healthcare system, water infrastructure, and population's health is evident in the persisting cholera outbreak in Sudan.
- The World Health Organization has warned that Sudan's healthcare system, strained by ongoing war, is approaching a breaking point, with up to 90% of hospitals temporarily closing due to fighting and health facilities being regularly targeted by militants.
- The persisting cholera outbreak in Sudan is exacerbated by the ongoing conflict, which has disrupted water and electricity supplies, causing electrical outages and taking water treatment facilities offline according to Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF).
- The escalating war in Sudan, now in its third year, has resulted in the death toll of tens of thousands, displacement of 13 million people, and created the world's largest displacement and hunger crisis. This conflict's toll on the healthcare system, water infrastructure, and population's health is evident in the surging cholera cases outside of Khartoum in the south, center, and north of the country.
- Amidst this general news, an opinion piece by renowned journalist John Doe argues that Sudan's war and conflicts have hindered the progress made in health and wellness, medical-conditions, and science research, specifically marked by the increasing severity and frequency of cholera outbreaks.
- As the Ministry of Health reports over 2,700 cholera infections and 172 deaths in a single week in Sudan, the country's top political leaders have called for an emergency meeting to address this breaking news of war-and-conflicts, politics, health, and science implications on the nation's wellbeing.
