391 people die of cholera, dengue fever in Sudan, Health Ministry says
Friday April 19 2024
Patients are seen at a makeshift hospital in Adre, Chad, on the border with Sudan on September 6, 2023. PHOTO | REUTERS
A total of 391 people have died due to cholera and dengue fever during a year of war in Sudan, the Sudanese Health Ministry announced on Thursday.
"Nearly 11,000 cholera cases have been recorded, including 325 deaths in 12 states, while dengue fever cases reached 9,000, including 66 deaths," Sudanese Minister of Health, Haitham Mohamed Ibrahim said in a press release.
The minister said that despite the war, the Health Ministry has put in place urgent interventions in cholera-affected states to contain the spread of the disease.
Read: Sudan health crisis worsens amid violence
Turning to the ministry's effort to provide basic health services, he noted that delivering health services to all states and regions of Sudan was "a top priority."
According to the minister, some 4,000 tons of life-saving medicines, including intravenous solutions, kidney and cancer drugs, and consumables for medical labs, have been distributed to various states.
He revealed that the Ministry of Finance imported 19 billion Sudanese pounds of urgent medical supplies.
Since the war broke out between the Sudanese Armed Forces (Saf) and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) on April 15, 2023, the health situation in the country has been exacerbated.
According to recent estimates by the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (Ocha), 14,790 people have been killed and some 8.2 million others displaced since the conflict erupted.