Cholera Outbreak Threatens Darfur Camps Amid Blockade and Acute Medical Shortages

SadaNews - Photos from the "Tawilah" displacement camp in North Darfur reveal the camp is overcrowded with hundreds of people infected with cholera, amid a severe water shortage and almost complete lack of medical services.

The Darfur Displaced Persons Coordination confirmed that the epidemic is rapidly spreading within the camps, which lack even the most basic healthcare facilities.

A medical source from within the camp stated that the health situation is worsening day by day, with rising numbers of infected individuals and a lack of both treatment and food.

Number of Cholera Cases

For his part, the Acting Minister of Health and Social Welfare in the Darfur region, Babakir Hamdine, confirmed that the number of cholera cases in the region has exceeded 4,000, with 130 recorded deaths to date.

He explained in an interview with Al Jazeera that epidemics are spreading at a "terrifying" rate, particularly in North Darfur, attributing the worsening crisis to the blockade imposed by the Rapid Support Forces on the state, preventing the arrival of medicines and medical aid to the affected areas.

Hamdine also accused the "Rapid Support" forces of killing and abducting a number of doctors and stealing diagnostic equipment, which has exacerbated health conditions and the spread of epidemics despite the ministry's efforts, in cooperation with international partners, to curb this outbreak.

In the same context, the Sudanese Ministry of Health's Undersecretary, Dr. Haitham Muhammad Ibrahim, stated that the total number of cholera cases in the Darfur region has reached over 4,400, warning that the prevailing epidemics are worsening the already dire humanitarian situation in the region.

The spokesperson for the Sudanese Doctors Network, Mohamed Faisal, emphasized that the acute shortage of medicine and medical personnel has exacerbated the health crisis, demanding that the warring parties allow access to medical and food relief for civilians.

For her part, the Campaign Director at the Norwegian Refugee Council in Sudan, Matilda Vo, stated that the relief teams are facing significant difficulties in dealing with the large number of cholera cases in Tawilah camp, noting that the pace of infections is accelerating dangerously, especially in the border areas between Sudan and Chad.

Humanitarian organizations warn of the danger of the epidemic spreading to a wider area amid the ongoing armed conflict and deteriorating humanitarian conditions in displacement regions.

Source: Al Jazeera