Kalma, October 25 (Darfur24)
A medical source at Kalma Internally Displaced Persons camp, east of Nyala in South Darfur, said 47 cases of hepatitis were recorded in September amid a worsening health situation and concerns over the spread of the disease.
The development comes as young volunteers, medical workers and health personnel launch a joint awareness campaign to curb the spread of hepatitis B and C in the camp.
The source, who preferred anonymity, told Darfur24 that deteriorating health and environmental conditions had contributed to the spread of the disease among displaced residents.
Health centres in the camp face shortages of medicines and laboratory testing services, the source said, calling on humanitarian organisations to support efforts to contain hepatitis C.
The source added that hepatitis medicines were prohibitively expensive for displaced families and that poor storage and transportation conditions could compromise their effectiveness.
Abdul Malik, a member of the awareness initiative, told Darfur24 that environmental pollution contributed to the spread of many diseases and epidemics. He said the initiative was organising environmental sanitation campaigns across the camp.
Separately, another medical source told Darfur24 that malaria medicines were completely unavailable in the camp, which hosts more than 300,000 displaced people.
