South Sudan's English Daily Newspaper
"We Dare where others fear"
By Benjamin Takpiny
The government has ramped up efforts to prevent spread of cholera following the death of at least 60 people since outbreak in late October 2024.
The Minister of Information, Telecommunication and Postal Services, Michael Makuei Lueth, revealed on Friday that about 60 deaths have so far been recorded including a total of 6,000 cases across the country.
“The cabinet listened to the presentation from the Minister of Health, Yolanda Awel Deng, on the situation of cholera. As you know very well, cholera is available nowadays in South Sudan. It has started again, but it is now spreading all over, and up to now, we have lost about 60 people and recorded about 6,000 cases of cholera,” Makuei told journalists after the weekly cabinet meeting in Juba.
Makuei said that most of the cholera cases have been reported among internally displaced persons, refugees in Rubkona County of Unity State, and Aweil town of Northern Bahr El Ghazal State, and Renk in Upper Nile State and recently in Juba, the capital.
He added that the disease is prevalent among refugees who fled ongoing fighting in neighboring Sudan.
“Efforts are underway to get more vaccines for the other areas, however, the message of the Minister of Health to public is keeping your house clean and don’t drink or eat cold food, and you must eat warm food. This is the best protection against cholera,” said Makuei.
Makuei disclosed that the Ministry of Health is in the process of procuring more vaccines after the first batch of vaccines was dispatched for the Renk border town where the first case was reported in October.
The Ministry of Health and UN agencies recently said that cholera is impacting refugees, returnees, and residents alike, adding that children, especially those under- five, and older people face extraordinary vulnerability.
They said that the first of the cholera cases were imported from neighboring Sudan, where an outbreak has affected over 40,000 people.
Since April 2023, more than 880,000 people have fled Sudan and sought refuge in South Sudan with many arriving through the border crossing in Renk County. The UN supports transit centres where people can rest and get support.
