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Sudan Doctors Committee Demand Formal Epidemic Declaration

Moatinoon
The preparatory committee of the Sudanese Doctors’ Union has called on the Federal Ministry of Health to officially announce the outbreak of various fevers and disease vectors, which have reached epidemic levels in Khartoum and Gezira states, alongside the continued spread of cholera in Darfur and Kassala.

In a statement issued on Monday, September 29, the union warned that the government’s failure to officially recognize these epidemics would lead to their “endemic establishment in forms that are difficult to combat,” cautioning that this could result in high mortality rates among citizens already exhausted by war.

The committee stressed that the outbreak of epidemics comes amid the total collapse of the health system and the absence of a unified system for epidemic surveillance and disease monitoring. This, it said, has left the Federal Ministry of Health “unable to provide accurate statistics on the scale of the outbreak and incapable of confronting it,” while “all indicators point to a major health and humanitarian crisis.”

The union emphasized that addressing such disasters requires “an integrated collective effort.” It urged the Federal Ministry of Health, state health ministries, national and international organizations, emergency rooms, service committees, various doctors’ groups, local unions, and Sudanese diaspora communities to urgently contribute to a comprehensive national campaign to combat these crises.

The committee specifically called on the Federal Ministry of Health to officially declare the existence of an epidemic through the Council of Ministers and to notify the World Health Organization (WHO). It also urged the ministry to activate pandemic response protocols by formally informing citizens about the presence of the disease, its modes of transmission, prevention methods, and available care centers.

Additionally, the union called for the formation of a specialized high-level committee comprising senior doctors and experts from the National Public Health Laboratory and disease control departments. This committee would operate through a national emergency room to monitor treatment protocols and supply chains.