The Federal Ministry of Health declared a nationwide cholera outbreak in August 2024. Since then, infections have risen and fallen in waves, but persist due to scarce clean water and sanitation failures caused by the war. On Tuesday, Health Undersecretary Haitham Mohamed Ibrahim announced emergency budgets for state governments to counter seasonal epidemics, stressing that campaigns to improve hygiene and combat disease vectors must expand across the country.
According to the latest federal emergency operations report, 1,575 new cholera cases and 22 deaths were recorded last week across 44 localities. This brings the total since July 2024 to 101,450 cases and 2,515 deaths in 133 localities nationwide.
Other outbreaks continue to rise. Authorities confirmed 325 new cases of dengue fever in Khartoum state, raising the nationwide tally to 5,350 infections and six deaths across six states. Measles remains active, with 35 cases, mostly in North Darfur’s Tawila locality, while malaria cases surged to more than 46,000 in just one week.
Laboratory capacity is being bolstered, with four mobile testing units recently deployed. Flooding has further complicated the crisis, displacing 160 families in two states. The expanded immunization program reported high vaccine coverage against cholera and diphtheria but warned more campaigns are needed.
The health emergency is particularly severe in Darfur, where overcrowded displacement camps have become epicenters of infection. The General Coordination of Displaced Persons and Refugees reported more than 7,161 cholera cases and 306 deaths across the region.
In North Darfur’s Tawila camps alone, thousands of cases were logged. Tawila, Murtal, and Tabra all reported spikes, while in Jebel Marra, the town of Golo recorded 1,105 cases, including 51 deaths. Other hotspots include Rokero (111 cases, seven deaths), Deribat ( 149 cases, nine deaths), and Nierteti (31 cases, four deaths).
Displacement sites have been especially hard hit. Kalma camp registered 435 infections with 64 deaths, while Otash camp reported 207 cases and 51 fatalities. Dreig camp recorded 121 infections and four deaths. In Zalingei, 89 cases have been confirmed, alongside dozens more across Hamidiya, Hassahisa, and Azum camps.
The crisis is compounded by conflict. The paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) control four of Darfur’s five states and continue to lay siege to El Fasher, the last state capital still held by the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF). The blockade has strangled humanitarian access and worsened shortages of medicine, clean water, and food.
Health officials and aid agencies warn that without urgent intervention, Sudan’s fragile health system, already battered by war-risks total collapse under the weight of multiple epidemics.
