Sudan vaccination rates plummet to 40-year low as cholera outbreak spreads
July 16, 2025 (UNITED NATIONS) – Sudan’s childhood immunization rates have plummeted to their lowest levels in over 40 years, with more than half of all infants missing critical vaccines as a cholera outbreak spreads across conflict-torn regions, United Nations officials said on Wednesday.
Vaccine coverage has dropped dramatically from 94% in 2022 to just 48% last year, according to data published by the World Health Organization and UNICEF. At least 880,000 babies and toddlers missed their first doses of vaccines protecting against diphtheria, tetanus and pertussis.
“This is the lowest immunization rate in the country in over 40 years,” UN spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric told reporters at the organization’s New York headquarters. “From 94 per cent to 48 per cent.”
The sharp decline, driven by ongoing conflict, is fueling outbreaks of deadly but preventable diseases such as measles and polio, UN officials warned. The deteriorating situation comes as Sudan enters both its rainy season and lean season, raising fears of further disease spread and worsening hunger levels.
Meanwhile, a cholera outbreak in North Darfur State is intensifying, with more than 300 cases reported in just over two weeks in the locality of Tawila, which hosts about 330,000 people displaced from Zamzam camp since April.
In the locality of Um Keddada in North Darfur State, a separate suspected cholera outbreak linked to contaminated water has already claimed five lives. No treatment centers remain in the area, and health facilities are not functioning, according to UN partners on the ground.
“With limited treatment facilities, the rising number of severe cases is overwhelming health workers,” Dujarric said, warning that the ongoing movement of people raises the risk of further spread toward West Kordofan State.
Despite enormous access challenges, UNICEF delivered 16 million doses of vaccines for children under one year old in the first half of 2025, including more than 3.5 million doses to Darfur. However, officials say far more is needed to avert a deepening public health catastrophe.
Severe funding shortfalls are depriving the most vulnerable Sudanese of much-needed support. Two mobile clinics at the border between Egypt and Sudan closed on July 14, leaving displaced people without access to basic healthcare after funds ran dry. The clinics had served some 2,700 people since mid-May.
The UN continues to call for urgent funding to scale up assistance and respond to growing humanitarian needs across Sudan, where conflict has displaced millions and created one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises.