Sudan politician cites 1,700 cholera deaths, demands emergency, ceasefire

May 27, 2025 (KHARTOUM/PORT SUDAN) – Sudan is grappling with a severe cholera outbreak that has claimed hundreds of lives across several states, compounding a humanitarian crisis already deepened by ongoing conflict. Yasir Arman, leader of the SPLM-Revolutionary Democratic Current, is urgently calling on authorities to declare a health emergency and seek international assistance, warning that the epidemic is deadlier than the war itself.

Adiba Ibrahim al-Sayed, a member of the Sudan Doctors’ Committee, told the Sudan Tribune that cholera cases have been continuously rising in Khartoum, Al Jazirah, River Nile, Northern, Sennar, and North Kordofan states. While precise figures on infections were difficult to obtain, she reported that deaths had reached 346 in Khartoum State, 57 in North Kordofan, 45 in Gezira and 33 in River Nile State.

In a statement extended to Sudan Tribune on Tuesday, Arman implored the authorities in Port Sudan and Khartoum to declare Khartoum State, White Nile State, Al Jazirah State and North Kordofan as “areas of health disasters” and institute a “health state of emergency.”

He urged immediate notification of the World Health Organization (WHO) and UNICEF to trigger emergency response, dispatch vital medicines and equipment, assess the deteriorating health situation, support struggling hospitals and health centers and solicit urgent humanitarian aid from regional and international communities.

The opposition leader further demanded that both warring parties in Sudan declare a humanitarian ceasefire, even for a single week. This proposed pause would facilitate the delivery of critical food and medicine, particularly to hard-hit towns and villages in North Kordofan, including El-Obeid, Al-Khuwei, An-Nuhud, Dilling, Kadugli and Debeibat.

Arman also emphasized the necessity of opening aid corridors to the besieged city of El Fasher.

Arman’s statement underscored the escalating danger posed by the epidemic, asserting that “The epidemics—chief among them cholera, which has claimed the lives of more than 1,700 people in Khartoum State alone—are deadlier than the war.”

He characterized the cholera outbreak as a “lethal weapon alongside the weapons of war, targeting innocent civilians,” while lamenting the authorities’ apparent failure to issue a comprehensive statement, clarify the situation or outline a plan of action.

He concluded by calling on Sudanese people abroad to reject the perceived “disregard for and devaluation” of their fellow citizens’ lives, which he described as having become “expendable and meaningless.”

The plea highlights growing international concern over the humanitarian catastrophe unfolding in Sudan, where ongoing conflict is exacerbating an already fragile public health infrastructure.