UN Raises Alarm Over Attacks on Health Facilities Amid Cholera Outbreak in Sudan

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The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) has expressed deep concern over reports of attacks on health facilities in Sudan’s Darfur region, at a time when the country is grappling with a severe cholera outbreak.

In its latest update on Wednesday, OCHA cited Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), which announced the suspension of all activities at Zalingei Hospital in Central Darfur following a hand grenade attack inside the facility. MSF said operations can only resume once clear security guarantees are in place for staff and patients. Since early August, MSF had been leading an emergency cholera response at the hospital, treating more than 160 patients in just two weeks in coordination with the state health ministry.

OCHA stressed that parties to the conflict must respect the special protection afforded to medical facilities, staff, and patients under international humanitarian law, underscoring that such attacks constitute serious violations of the laws of war.

On efforts to contain the outbreak, the UN said ongoing oral cholera vaccination campaigns have reached more than two million people across Khartoum, Gezira, and Sennar states, with the campaign set to conclude later this week. Earlier this year alone, UNICEF supplied 7.6 million doses to help curb the spread of the disease.

In a separate development, OCHA reported that for the first time since the conflict began, the World Food Programme (WFP) was able to deliver food assistance on 14 August to rural areas of Kutum locality in North Darfur, reaching approximately 50,000 displaced people. The agency described the delivery as a lifeline for communities cut off from aid for an extended period.