STORY: Contagious diseases spread fast in Sudan amid war, rainy season
SHOOTING TIME: Aug. 18, 2024
DATELINE: Aug. 19, 2024
LENGTH: 00:00:44
LOCATION: Khartoum
CATEGORY: HEALTH

SHOTLIST:
1. various of patients at a hospital in Omdurman city, Sudan (courtesy of Sudan's Federal Ministry of Health)

STORYLINE:

Contagious diseases, including cholera and conjunctivitis, are spreading rapidly in Sudan due to the prolonged conflict that has severely impacted the country's health sector, compounded by annual heavy rains and floods, according to Sudanese authorities and experts.

On Sunday, Sudan's Health Minister Haitham Mohamed Ibrahim said in a statement that the number of cholera cases in the country had reached 354, including 22 deaths.

The Sudanese authorities officially declared a cholera outbreak in the country a day earlier, noting that laboratory tests had confirmed the spread of cholera in different areas of Sudan, including the states of Kassala, Gedaref, Gezira, and Khartoum.

However, the World Health Organization (WHO) has reported a much higher number. On Friday, WHO spokesperson Margaret Harris reportedly said in a media call that 11,327 cholera cases with 316 deaths had been reported in Sudan and that other epidemic diseases like dengue fever and meningitis infections were also on the rise.

According to Sudan's Health Ministry, the cholera outbreak was primarily caused by deteriorating environmental conditions due to the war and the use of unsafe water in several areas.

Meanwhile, the ministry said last Tuesday in its latest report on the epidemiological situation in the country that the number of conjunctivitis cases, also known as pink eye disease, has reached 2,689 across nine states.

The rapid spread of contagious diseases was mainly caused by the war and deteriorating environment during the rainy season, according to a recent report by the Sudanese Doctors Syndicate, a professional association of Sudanese doctors.

According to Sudan's Interior Ministry, 68 people have been killed since June due to heavy rains and floods that have affected several parts of Sudan.
   
Flooding is a yearly occurrence in the country, typically happening between June and October. Over the past three years, heavy rains have claimed hundreds of lives and destroyed vast swathes of agricultural land.

Sudan has been witnessing a deadly conflict between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces since April 15, 2023, resulting in the loss of at least 16,650 lives. An estimated 10.7 million people are now internally displaced in Sudan, with approximately 2.2 million others seeking refuge in neighboring countries, according to the most recent UN data.

Xinhua News Agency correspondents reporting from Khartoum.
(XHTV)