By Violet Ikong
About a year after Sudan’s Federal Ministry of Health announced an outbreak of cholera in the country, the disease has resurfaced, spreading rapidly across towns and displacement camps.
In an August 14 report, international humanitarian organization Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) described the situation as the worst the country has had in recent years, with most cases being recorded in the Darfur region.
According to MSF, about 99,700 suspected cases have been reported across the country since August 2024, with over 2,470 related deaths. In late July this year, the organization treated over 2,300 patients in the town of Tawila, North Darfur, where over 40 died. Tawila hosts more than 380,000 displaced people living in camps marked by poor sanitary conditions and facilities, aiding the spread of the disease.
“In displacement and refugee camps, families often have no choice but to drink from contaminated sources, and many contract cholera,” said Sylvain Penicaud, MSF project coordinator in Tawila. “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 that same water again.”
In an interview with Amjambo Africa, Imran Mohamed, a local humanitarian volunteer in Tawila, highlighted that the newly built Daba Naira camp is one of the hardest hit and requires urgent attention. “The situation in Tawila, especially the Daba Naira camp, is largely due to overpopulation. We have thousands of displaced persons sharing a limited number of bathrooms and having to defecate in the open due to the absence of toilets,” Mohamed said.
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Areas like Golo, Zalingei, and Rokero in Central Darfur State have also recorded hundreds of cases. “MSF opened a 73-bed cholera treatment centre in Golo hospital. This centre was quickly overwhelmed, with 137 patients arriving on 3 August alone,” the organization said in its report.
Because the situation remains dire, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has warned that attacks on health facilities by warring factions make it difficult for people, especially children, to access treatment in places like Tawila. “With hospitals bombed and many health facilities shuttered, Tawila – located just 70 kilometres from the besieged state capital El Fasher – has become a flashpoint of overlapping crises,” the U.N. agency stated in a report.
According to UNICEF, more than 300 child cholera cases have been recorded in Tawila alone since June this year.
Spreading across borders
In early June, the World Health Organization (WHO) warned there could be a spread of cholera from Sudan to neighbouring Chad, where hundreds of thousands of civilians who fled war now live as refugees.
Weeks later, Chad’s Ministry of Public Health and Disease Prevention announced an outbreak in the Dougui refugee camp, located in the country’s Ouaddai province, which borders Sudan to the east.
“Since July 13, 128 cases of suspected cholera, with symptoms that include acute diarrhea with vomiting, have been reported at the Dougui Health Center, with 44 patients currently receiving treatment,” the International Medical Corps (IMC) said in an August 1 situation update report.
The international nonprofit also reported that at least five lives have been lost so far in the camp, which hosts close to 20,000 refugees.
Response efforts
Despite security and financial challenges, international humanitarian organizations and local volunteers are working together to raise awareness on cholera prevention, to vaccinate people, and to contain the spread of the disease.
“Local emergency response rooms in Tawila have been working tirelessly to create awareness among the displaced community and teach them to keep their shelters clean,” Mohamed told Amjambo Africa.
In its statement, UNICEF said it plans to deliver more than 1.4 million doses of oral vaccine as well as soap, latrine slabs, and plastic sheets to civilians. “The agency is scaling up its emergency response in Tawila and across Darfur, distributing Oral Rehydration Salts (ORS), chlorinated water, and hygiene kits,” UNICEF said.
Since April 2023, generals of the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and Rapid Support Forces (RSF) have been involved in a violent power struggle that has claimed thousands of lives, displaced millions, and continues to pose health challenges for civilians trapped in the war.
