More than 1,180 cholera cases, including an estimated 300 in children, and at least 20 deaths have been reported in Tawila, a city that has absorbed more than half a million people fleeing violence since April.
In the widest region of Darfur, the toll is even more alarming: almost 2,140 cases and at least 80 deaths from July 30.
“Despite being preventable and easily treatable, cholera is destroying Tawila and in other parts of Darfur, threatening the life of children, especially the youngest and most vulnerable,“Sheldon Yett, representative of UNICEF in Sudan said.
With bombarded hospitals and many closed health facilities, Tawila, located only 70 kilometers from the state -sized state, has become a point of inflammation of overlapping crises.
Limited access to clean water, poor sanitation and overcrowded camps have created ideal conditions for the disease to spread.
Deepening catastrophe
The cholera outbreak develops in a context of deepening catastrophe. Since the war broke out between the rival military in April 2023, the critical infrastructure has been decimated, millions displaced and the dismantled food systems.
The famine has already been declared in at least 10 locations, including the vast Zamzam camp, with more than a dozen more at risk areas.
The extreme vulnerability of Sudan to climatic clashes, from droughts to devastating floods, has further aggravated the crisis, leaving families to navigate the deadly intersection of conflicts, hunger, disease and environmental collapse.
More than 640,000 children at risk
More than 640,000 children under five in northern Darfur are only at risk. Recent evaluations show that the number of children suffering from severe acute malnutrition in the region has doubled in the last year.
“Children whose bodies are weakened by hunger are much more likely to contract anger and die of it,Unicef warned.
“You can’t wait another day.“
Call for action
UNICEF is urgently asking all parts that guarantee sustained, safe and obstacle humanitarian access. Bureaucratic delays, the convoys of looted help and the active struggle have hindered the delivery of vital supplies, including vaccines, therapeutic foods and medical kits.
The agency is expanding its emergency response in Tawila and through Darfur, distributing oral rehydration salts (ORS), chlorinated water and hygiene kits.
Almost 30,000 people in Tawila now have daily access to safe drinking water, while dissemination equipment is creating awareness about early prevention and treatment.
Urgent necessary funds
To support long -term containment, UNICEF plans to deliver more than 1.4 million doses of oral cholera vaccines and treatment reinforcements.
Additional supplies are being prepared (soap, latrine slabs, plastic sheets, although access remains the biggest obstacle.
Since the outbreak was officially declared in August 2024, more than 94,000 cholera cases and more than 2,370 deaths have been reported in 17 of the 18 Sudan states. UNICEF says it urgently requires $ 30.6 million to finance your emergency cholera response.
