Sudan faces “perfect storm” of hunger and disease, warns WHO

February 14, 2024 (GENEVA) – The World Health Organization (WHO) issued a stark warning today, calling the health situation in Sudan a “perfect storm” brewing due to looming hunger and rampant disease.

Concerns are rising that the upcoming lean season could trigger catastrophic hunger in vulnerable areas.

In a briefing to the media in Geneva on Wednesday, Peter Graaff, WHO’s Acting Representative in Sudan stated that the ongoing crisis is compounded by the synergistic relationship between malnutrition and disease.

Malnourished individuals, particularly children and pregnant women are more likely to suffer severe and even fatal consequences from illnesses like diarrhoea, pneumonia, and measles, especially when they lack access to basic healthcare, Graaff said.

Graaff stressed that “The situation in Sudan was a perfect storm as the health system was hardly functional, as the childhood immunization programme was breaking down and infectious diseases were spreading”.

Infectious diseases are running rampant, with over 10,000 cases of cholera, 5,000 of measles, 8,000 of dengue, and a staggering 1.2 million cases of malaria reported.

Sudan now faces the world’s largest displacement crisis, with eight million people forced to flee their homes. Graaff, having witnessed the dire situation firsthand in Sudan and Chad, described overcrowded shelters, lacking access to basic necessities like water, sanitation, food, and healthcare.

The humanitarian crisis is immense, with 25 million Sudanese needing assistance, 18 million facing acute hunger, and 5 million on the brink of starvation.

(ST)