WORLD NEWS FOR MONTENEGRO DIASPORA
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AUTHOR:M.J. GDNUS
The worst cholera outbreak in Sudan in recent years has claimed at least 40 lives in just seven days, the medical humanitarian organization Doctors Without Borders (MSF) warns. The situation is so critical that overwhelmed medical centers are treating patients lying on the floor, while two years of civil war are further fueling the spread of the disease, writes The Guardian.
Sylvain Penicod, MSF project coordinator in North Darfur, points out that families in camps for displaced and refugee people often have no choice but to drink contaminated water, which is the main cause of cholera.
"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 the same source again," said Penicod, describing the scale of the crisis vividly.
The cholera outbreak in Sudan was first confirmed by the Federal Ministry of Health a year ago, in August 2024. Since then, more than 99,700 suspected cases and over 2,470 deaths have been recorded. The disease is spreading unstoppably as people flee the conflict, and the situation is being exacerbated by heavy rains that pollute water sources and overload sewage systems.
The Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention warns that as of May this year, as many as 60% of global cholera cases and 93.5% of related deaths have been recorded in Africa. The worst-hit countries, in addition to Sudan, include the Democratic Republic of Congo and South Sudan.
MSF teams in Darfur treated more than 2,300 patients last month alone. Their 130-bed hospital center had to accommodate as many as 400 patients in the first week of August. Some 380,000 people have arrived in the small town since April, fleeing the fighting around El Fasher.
While the World Health Organization recommends a minimum of 7.5 liters of water per person per day, they survive on an average of three liters. MSF says water shortages across Darfur make it “impossible to maintain basic hygiene measures, such as washing dishes and food.”
“Health centers are full,” says Samia Dahab, a resident of Otash camp in South Darfur. “Some areas have water, others have kiosks that are far away or empty. Some of the water is salty, and we drink it unboiled, not sure if it’s safe.”
Tuna Turkmen, MSF’s head of mission in Sudan, stresses that the situation is “more than urgent” and that the infection is “now spreading far beyond the camps for displaced people, to several locations in Darfur and beyond.” The crisis is spilling over into neighboring countries – Chad recorded 16 deaths and 288 infections in August.
Turkmen appealed for an urgent international response to ensure health care, improve water supplies and sanitation, and launch vaccination campaigns. "Survivors of the war must not be left to die from preventable diseases," she warned.
