UNICEF: 10 mln vaccine doses land in Port Sudan

A consignment of 7.5 million doses of measles rubella vaccination, and 2.2 million cholera vaccines, have been airlifted to Port Sudan to combat outbreaks of the diseases.

Posting on X (formerly Twitter), the Sudan Country Representative UNICEF, Mandeep O’Brien, points out that “these lifesaving vaccines are very much needed to combat disease outbreaks across Sudan”.

O’Brien said she is “deeply grateful” to Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance for the vaccines, and for the for the cooperation of Sudan’s Ministry of Health and partners “to maintain critical health services for every child”.

The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) says 3.1 million people in Sudan are at risk of cholera in eight states between July and December 2023.

In a report on Tuesday, OCHA confirmed that Sudan declared a cholera outbreak in El Gedaref on September 26. As of November 9, at least 2,525 suspected cases of cholera, including 78 associated deaths, have been reported in 27 localities in six states – El Gedarif, South Kordofan, Kassala, Khartoum, El Gezira, and Sennar, OCHA says.

Humanitarian agencies are scaling up the response to the outbreak and supporting case detection and treatment. Surveillance continues in affected and high-risk areas to identify and address risk factors.

The report noted that the International Coordination Group on Vaccine Provision (WHO, UNICEF, Médecins Sans Frontières, International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies) approved the Sudanese Ministry of Health’s request to provide more than 2.9 million doses of oral cholera (OCV) vaccines for interactive vaccination campaigns in nine localities in El Gedaref, El Gezira and Khartoum.