OVER 3 MLN PEOPLE IN SUDAN AT RISK OF CHOLERA: UNICEF

Sat 19 October 2024:

The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) on Friday warned that over three million people are at risk of cholera in Sudan.

“3.1 million people, including 500,000 children under 5, are at risk of cholera,” UNICEF said on social platform X.

According to UNICEF, the vaccination coverage in Sudan has plummeted to some 50 percent from 85 percent before the outbreak of the internal conflict between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the Rapid Support Forces in April 2023.

More than 70 percent of hospitals in conflict-affected areas are non-operational, and frontline healthcare workers have not been paid in months, it said.

Since the outbreak of the civil conflict, epidemic diseases such as cholera, malaria, measles, and dengue fever have spread, leading to hundreds of deaths.

__________________________________________________________________________

https://whatsapp.com/channel/0029VaAtNxX8fewmiFmN7N22

__________________________________________________________________________

Sudan’s Health Ministry declared a cholera outbreak in the country in August, attributing the spread of cholera to deteriorating environmental conditions caused by the conflict and the use of unclean water.

The ongoing war in Sudan, which erupted in April 2023 between the military and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), has plunged the country into a humanitarian disaster. Thousands have been killed, and millions have been displaced as intense fighting devastates cities like Khartoum and Darfur.

Civilians face extreme violence, food shortages, and lack of medical care. Essential infrastructure, including hospitals and schools, has been destroyed, leaving many without access to basic needs. Human rights abuses such as sexual violence, looting, and forced displacement are rampant, with the war exacerbating long-standing ethnic and tribal tensions.

Humanitarian aid struggles to reach those in need due to the dangerous conditions, and neighboring countries have seen a massive influx of refugees fleeing the violence. Sudan’s war has not only destabilized the region but has also led to a profound human tragedy, with millions suffering the consequences.

SOURCE: INDEPENDENT PRESS AND NEWS AGENCIES

______________________________________________________________

FOLLOW INDEPENDENT PRESS:

WhatsApp CHANNEL
https://whatsapp.com/channel/0029VaAtNxX8fewmiFmN7N22