Khartoum, September 20(Darfur 24) More than 1,200 children have died from suspected measles and malnutrition cases in refugee camps in Sudan, and several thousand more, including newborns, are at risk of death before the end of the year, two United Nations agencies said on Tuesday.
The two agencies added that more than five months into the conflict between the Sudanese army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, the country’s healthcare sector is on the verge of complete collapse due to direct attacks from the warring parties in addition to the shortage of staff and medicines.
Dr. Allen Maina, head of the public health sector at the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, said in a press briefing for the organization in Geneva that since May, more than 1,200 children under the age of five among refugees from Ethiopia and South Sudan have died in nine camps in White Nile State, which has the largest number of refugees in Sudan.
He added, “Unfortunately, we fear that the numbers will continue to rise due to the scarcity of resources,” noting that partner agencies are facing great difficulties in vaccinating refugees, which increases the risk of the spread of epidemics.
He said that there were about 3,100 suspected cases of measles and 500 of cholera reported from across the country in the same period, in addition to outbreaks of dengue fever and malaria.
A World Health Organization official said in the same briefing that the number of confirmed attacks so far in Sudan on the health care sector has reached 56 since the start of the war, and that between 70 and 80 percent of hospitals in states witnessing clashet and conflict are out of service.
The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) expressed its concern about the death of “several thousand newborns” out of 333,000 expected to be born before the end of the year.
“These (children) and their mothers need skilled care during childbirth,” UNICEF spokesman James Elder said in the same briefing. But in a country where millions are either trapped in war zones or displaced and there is a significant shortage of medical supplies, the likelihood of receiving such care is becoming less and less likely by the day.”
He added that about 55,000 children each month need treatment for the worst forms of malnutrition in Sudan, but less than one in every 50 feeding centers are operating in the capital, Khartoum, and one in ten in West Darfur.