Ahmed Kamel – Egypt Daily News
Sudan is currently grappling with a rapidly escalating health disaster as a cholera outbreak spreads unchecked across conflict-ravaged regions, particularly in Darfur. According to Médecins Sans Frontières (Doctors Without Borders), at least 40 people have died in the past week alone, and more than 2,300 cholera cases have been treated stark figures that reflect the collapsing healthcare infrastructure in a country already crippled by civil war.
The situation, described as “unprecedented” by humanitarian organizations, is being fueled by a lethal mix of conflict, displacement, water shortages, and the near-total breakdown of basic services. The war, now stretching into its second year, has severely disrupted access to clean water, sanitation, and healthcare — the primary defenses against the waterborne disease.
Darfur at the Epicenter
Darfur, a region long scarred by violence and instability, has become the epicenter of the outbreak. Doctors Without Borders reports that many of the deaths and infections are concentrated in this area, where access to health services has become nearly impossible due to fighting between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF).
Darfur Governor Minni Arko Minawi told DW Arabic that the hardest-hit areas are those under RSF control, which are effectively cut off from government services. “Most of the cholera patients live in regions that are no longer connected to state infrastructure. There are no functioning hospitals or clean water systems, and the RSF lacks the capacity to provide these services,” he said.
Humanitarian Crisis Worsens
The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that tens of thousands of cholera cases have been reported since July 2024. Conditions that typically breed cholera, unsafe water, poor sanitation, and overcrowded living environments have been drastically exacerbated by the conflict.
More than 12 million people have been displaced by the war, which began in April 2023. Many now live in overcrowded camps lacking basic services, where hygiene is minimal and access to medical care is nearly non-existent. According to ALIMA (The Alliance for International Medical Action), outbreaks of cholera and other infectious diseases are thriving in these makeshift camps.
“Hundreds of thousands of people are squeezed into narrow areas without proper sanitation or clean water,” said Rodrigue Aletono, ALIMA’s Sudan coordinator. “Hospitals have been bombed or looted, and humanitarian access is restricted or dangerous.”
In the town of Tawila in North Darfur, the crisis is particularly dire. The local MSF team reports that nearly 380,000 people have fled intense fighting around the besieged state capital of El Fasher, overwhelming already fragile health services.
Children at Greatest Risk
The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has warned that more than 640,000 children under the age of five in North Darfur alone are at high risk of cholera and other diseases due to malnutrition, weak immune systems, and lack of medical care. These children are especially vulnerable in displacement camps where safe drinking water and sanitation are virtually nonexistent.
Jacky Mamo, director of the French organization Collectif Urgence Darfour, emphasized the cascading effects of the conflict: “Water scarcity, destroyed hospitals, poor immunity it’s a perfect storm for cholera. The health of the population is deteriorating rapidly.”
Urgent Call for Action
Humanitarian agencies are urging immediate international intervention to address the outbreak and prevent a wider catastrophe. “We need urgent delivery of medical supplies, restoration of hospital functionality, and full humanitarian access,” Aletono said.
However, with the civil war showing no signs of abating and many areas inaccessible due to active conflict, aid organizations are struggling to reach those most in need.
Sudan’s cholera crisis is just one facet of a broader humanitarian disaster that has already claimed more than 40,000 lives and created the world’s largest displacement crisis. Unless immediate steps are taken to halt the spread of disease and provide basic medical care, humanitarian groups warn that thousands more could die not from bullets or bombs, but from untreated, preventable diseases.
