Sudan health minister in South Darfur after reported increase in AWD cases
September 9, 2017 (NYALA) – Sudan’s Health Minister Bahr Idriss Abu Garda Saturday arrived in Nyala to inspect the health situation after the reported increase of increase of Acute Watery Diarrhoea (AWD) in the South Darfur state.
Independent doctors groups and activists speak about a cholera outbreak in the western Sudan region and other states but government officials deny this diagnosis, stressing it is about AWD cases and they are working to control the situation
Following his arrival, Abu Garda told reporters that health authorities at the state and federal levels managed to control the epidemic in the different areas where it appeared. He added that the situation in South Darfur requires a cooperation between his ministry and the state.
Flanked by several officials who came with him from Khartoum, the minister, visited Kass locality, 80 km west of Nyala, after reports of an increase in AWD cases in the area.
During a visit to Kass hospital, he pledged to exert needed efforts to eradicate the disease.
Last Wednesday South Darfur government set up a high-level body to work with the state health ministry’s emergency committee to tackle the increasing AWD cases that have hit large parts of the state.
Dozens of people were killed, especially in the localities of Sharq Jabel Marra, Ed al-Fursan, Katyla, Kass, and Bielel, as well as a number of neighbourhoods in Nyala.
In a joint report released last August, the Sudanese ministry of health and the World Health Organization (WHO) s additional 36,000 to 40,000 AWD cases over the next six to nine months.
(ST)