In August, Sudanese authorities declared a cholera outbreak, which is currently heavily affecting the states of Kassala, Gedaref and River Nile, followed by Al Jazirah and Khartoum. According to the Ministry of Health, over 5,000 cases of cholera and 191 deaths have been reported. In the second half of August the weekly cases of the disease multiplied by four. Cholera cases are not uncommon in Sudan, but this is the second year since the start of the war in April 2023 that the country is faced with outbreaks of the disease.

MSF teams in Khartoum, River Nile, Kassala and Gedaref have mobilized to support the Ministry of Health to respond to the situation, by setting up and running cholera treatment centers and units (CTCs and CTUs) or providing support to existing overwhelmed treatment facilities in some of the most affected areas and in hard-to-reach places where cases are upsurging. Between the end of August and 9 September, we treated 2,165 patients in our supported facilities.

MSF teams are setting up oral rehydration points, trucking drinking water, constructing handwashing points and latrines, distributing hygiene kits and doing health promotion in the affected communities. In Darfur, where no cases have yet been registered, MSF teams are helping to improve preparedness.  

Cholera adds yet another challenge to the crisis in Sudan and to the decimated health system, already struggling with increasing child malnutrition, high numbers of war wounded and regular cases of preventable diseases. Regularly obstructed by both warring parties, the humanitarian response remains far below what is needed.