MSF warns of critical gaps in response to cholera outbreak

Medical charity Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) has raised concern about the rapidly escalating cholera outbreak across the country.
Clean water is essential for cholera treatment. MSF staff ensure water storage
tanks at the Cholera Treatment Center (CTC) are filled daily. ©Paula Casado Aguirregabiria/MSF

By Jenifer James

Medical charity Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) has raised concern about the rapidly escalating cholera outbreak across the country.

“The situation in Malakal remains critical, and we are concerned that the outbreak is spreading to neighboring areas such as Tonga and Kodok. MSF urgently set up the 100-bed cholera treatment center (CTC) in Assosa and continues to provide critical medical care; however, significant gaps remain, especially in the number of functioning oral rehydration points (ORPs) and water and sanitation,” said Zakaria Mwatia, MSF head of mission in South Sudan in a statement issued on Friday.

He disclosed that they have expanded efforts to address critical gaps in the ongoing response.

“We have been stretched thin in our response as we have had to expand our efforts to address critical gaps in the ongoing response,” said Mwatia.

The outbreak, initially declared in Renk, Upper Nile State, on 28 October 2024, has spread to Malakal and Bentiu, in Unity State; Aweil in Northern Bahr-el Ghazal State; and even South Sudan’s capital, Juba.

Renk is a major entry point for refugees and returnees from Sudan, and the inadequate living and hygiene conditions have contributed to spread of cholera.

MSF said the preparedness to address the potential spread to Malakal and other areas has been slow, adding that is working alongside the Ministry of Health and other organizations to respond to the cholera outbreak.

MSF set up the Cholera Treatment Center in Malakal within three days.

In December, a total of 1,526 suspected and confirmed cholera cases had been recorded in South Sudan, with the numbers continuing to rise rapidly.

Of these, more than 880 were treated at MSF facilities and hundreds of these patients are displaced from neighboring Sudan, where more than 37,000 cholera cases have been reported in the recent months. More than 70 percent of the reported cases are in the Upper Nile State alone.

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