Khartoum: A cholera vaccination campaign was launched on Wednesday in Sudan’s capital Khartoum, aiming to reach 2.6 million residents, according to Khartoum State’s health authorities.
According to Ethiopian News Agency, the 10-day campaign will be conducted in 12 administrative units in Omdurman, Umbada, Karari, Jabal Awliya, and East Nile localities, the health authorities said in a statement. It reported a decline in cholera cases, noting that “the fatality rate due to complications from the disease has reached zero.”
Fath Al-Rahman Mohamed Al-Amin, director-general of Khartoum’s health authorities, described the launch of the cholera vaccination campaign as “the final blow to the outbreak.” On May 27, the health authorities reported 2,729 new infections and 172 deaths within a single week, with 90 percent of the new cases concentrated in Khartoum State.
The health authorities later announced that it had received over 2.9 million doses of the cholera vaccine, according to Xinhua report. According to the medical aid group Doctors Without Borders, the interruption of electricity and water services across much of Khartoum State has fueled the spread of epidemic diseases, including cholera, as residents have been forced to rely on unsafe water sources.
Sudan has been engulfed in a brutal conflict between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the RSF since April 2023. The war has killed tens of thousands and forced millions to flee their homes, both within Sudan and across its borders.