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Sudan Situation Report, 12 Sep 2019

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Sudan
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OCHA
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Highlights

  • As of 11th September 2019, three out of seven localities in Blue Nile state reported total 58 suspected cholera cases, with four deaths reported.

  • Ministry of Health and partners continue efforts on vector control, disease surveillance, and home visits to raise awareness on disease prevention.

  • Teams from FMoH and WHO are currently in Damazine to provide support and technical advice to health workers.

  • Flood response continues throughout the country. In White Nile State—the state hardest hit—access to people in areas previously unreachable due to flood waters is improving.

EMERGENCY RESPONSE

Sudan's Federal Ministry of Health Confirms Cholera in Blue Nile State

Sudan’s Federal Ministry of Health (FMoH) confirmed four cases of cholera in Blue Nile State. There are total of 59 suspected cholera cases, with three deaths reported. The current case fatality rate (CFR) is 4.1 percent in Blue Nile State. With proper treatment, the case fatality rate for cholera should remain below 1 per cent. “Due to suboptimal health conditions and poor safe water and sewage system structures, exacerbated by polluted water sources caused by recent floods, there is a risk of cholera and other diarrhoeal diseases spreading if no immediate response interventions take place,” said Dr Naeema Al Gasseer, WHO Representative in Sudan.

AWD and cholera response

The Federal Ministry of Health (FMOH) and WHO are working together to strengthen disease surveillance, provide medical treatment for patients, distribute laboratory supplies, monitor water quality and chlorinate public water supplies, and promote health education and hygiene among affected as well as at-risk communities. Two cholera treatment centres are serving patients in Blue Nile, and a dedicated isolation centre has been established for cholera case management. So far, 30 patients have been discharged after receiving treatment.

FMoH, WHO and UNICEF have already provided AWD kits (enough to treat 300 people) with three additional kits in the pipeline. In addition, IV fluids (Ringer lactate) and oral rehydration therapy supplies have already been provided for treatment of the patients. The timely clearance and movement of supplies will be critical to an effective response.

The State Ministry of Health (SMoH) in Blue Nile in partnership with UNICEF is supporting the water chlorination activities and hygiene awareness in AWD-affected areas of Blue Nile at household levels. A total of 604 home visits were carried out in the last three days in the Ganis area. All these houses were covered with awareness sessions and disinfected with chlorine. The 604 households received 6,040 bars of soap.

Water chlorination activities are underway at eight water sources connected with urban water network in both Damazine and Roseries towns. In addition, several open water sources have been chlorinated through volunteers who are working actively at the intake area and other open sources. The volunteers managed to chlorinate 1,340 donkey carts, 5200 jerrycans at water sources. OXFAM has installed two water tanks in the Ganis area of El Roseires town, which provide clean drinking water to the affected people.

To monitor and contain the outbreak, WHO has surged a team of public health experts to Blue Nile State; other international experts will soon follow.

Community Engagement and Prevention

Efforts to implement a communication strategy at the national and locality levels to empower the community are being ramped up. The health promotion department in SMoH and humanitarian partners are carrying out advocacy campaigns to raise awareness and promote prevention activities. Two hundred health promotion and community members (i.e., adolescent and youth groups) have been trained and will lead community engagement activities. These activities will focus on house-to-house visits, drama groups and mobile cinema.

In Blue Nile, four mobile cinema shows reaching 370 people were staged, five theatre shows reaching 1,420 people, and 16 health awareness messages were broadcast through radio. The total number of beneficiaries from radio messages represent 75 per cent of the state population (873,750). In addition, 22 public sessions were conducted reaching 465 people and informational materials were distributed to 51,135 people.

WHO commends the new Government of Sudan with regard to transparency and full implementation of the international health security measures and protocols--a critical step to containing the disease.

UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs: To learn more about OCHA's activities, please visit https://www.unocha.org/.