Sudan: UNICEF ramps up response to cholera outbreak

2,700 cholera cases have been reported in war torn Sudan’s White Nile state in the first few weeks of 2025, according to health authorities.

The figure includes more than 500 children, and the outbreak has already caused dozens of deaths. 

In the face of the outbreak, UNICEF is ramping up its response to prevent the spread of the disease, and to shield vulnerable children. 

The organisation is providing cholera treatment kits and is backing the deployment of frontline workers to treatment centres. 

Following a power outage after attacks on power plants earlier in February, water supplies were disrupted in the White Nile state. As a result, many families had no choice but to collect untreated water from the White Nile River. 

A drop vaccination rates is exacerbating the situation, particularly in crowded displacements sites in the area. The state hosts some 650,000 internally displaced people and 400,000 refugees.

The already fragile health system in Sudan has been further weakened by almost two years of conflict, after fighting broke out between the Sudanese Army and paramilitary Rapid Support Forces in April 2023.