The World Health Organization (WHO) has raised concerns over a sudden surge in cholera cases in Sudan after over 300 patients were pronounced dead by medical experts across the country.
Aside from the deceased, the global health organization disclosed that more than 11,000 people were currently hospitalized after contracting the disease.
A WHO official, Margaret Harris, stated that the figures represent the number discovered by its officials.
Harris said: “From our record, 11,327 cholera patients are battling for their lives while 316 deaths have been discovered”.
She noted that dengue fever and meningitis infections were also rising in communities.
According to the WHO, the recent outbreaks of cholera have also been more deadly with fatality rates being the highest recorded in more than a decade.
Cholera is caused by bacteria spread in contaminated food and water, and access to clean water and sanitation is important to stop its spread.
The fighting in Sudan has forced one in five people in the country to flee their homes, and the violence has resulted in the deaths of tens of thousands.
Due to the mass displacement, more than 25 million people across the country, or more than half Sudan’s population, face acute hunger and outbreaks of disease. Famine has also been declared in a Darfur displacement camp, and humanitarian aid is hard to come by.
Aside from those displaced within Sudan, millions of people have also been forced to flee to Chad, the Central African Republic, Egypt, Ethiopia, and South Sudan.
The crisis in Sudan has been further complicated by recent flooding in Nile state and Kassala, near the Eritrean border, which has displaced thousands of people and threatens to exacerbate the already dire humanitarian situation.
War has raged in the country since April 2023 between the Sudanese army under the country’s de facto ruler, Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), led by his former deputy Mohamed “Hemedti” Hamdan Daglo.
The United States, Saudi Arabia, Switzerland, the African Union, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates, and the United Nations are trying to steer the Sudanese army and the RSF into ceasefire talks.
The talks in Switzerland, which also involved experts and civil society representatives, were targeted at achieving cessation of hostilities and boosting humanitarian access.
