Yasser Arman calls for humanitarian ceasefire and health state of emergency in four Sudan states

The leader of the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement Revolutionary Democratic Current (SPLM-RDC), Yasser Arman, has called on the authorities in Port Sudan and in Khartoum “to declare the states of Khartoum, White Nile, El Gezira, and North Kordofan as areas of health disasters, and to declare a health state of emergency.”

In a statement issued yesterday, Arman urges the authorities “to notify the World Health Organization (WHO) and UNICEF to activate emergency response protocols, send medicines and equipment, assess the health situation and its causes, support hospitals and health centres, and request urgent humanitarian aid from the regional and international communities.”

The SPLM-RDC head says that his organisation demands both warring parties to declare a humanitarian ceasefire, even for one week, to allow the delivery of food and medicine—especially to the towns and villages of North Kordofan, notably El Obeid, Al-Khuwei, En Nahud, Dilling, Kadugli, and Debibat—and to open corridors toward the city of El Fasher for sending aid to those in need in this historic city.

‘Relief more important than war’

“The epidemics—chief among them cholera, which has claimed the lives of more than 1,700 people in Khartoum State alone—are deadlier than the war. It is a lethal weapon alongside the weapons of war, targeting innocent civilians while the authorities have yet to even issue a comprehensive statement clarifying the situation, its causes, or their plan of action,” Arman says, concluding: “Sudanese people abroad must reject the disregard for and devaluation of the lives of their fellow citizens, whose lives have become expendable and meaningless.”

‘Cholera outbreak’

Cholera is spreading rapidly across several states in Sudan. In Omdurman and Jebel Aulia in Khartoum state, El Gezira state, Sennar state, and North Kordofan, infections and deaths are rising sharply.

The Ministry of Health in Khartoum state says it has launched a vaccination campaign as hundreds of cases of cholera are being reported daily in Khartoum and Omdurman, with 24 deaths reported on Friday alone.

In Omdurman, videos show overcrowded isolation centres and patients lying on the floor. Volunteers confirmed the deaths of at least 40 children from cholera in recent days and called for school and market closures.

Three new deaths were recorded in Jebel Aulia on Monday. Volunteers accused health authorities of obstructing aid efforts and failing to respond adequately.

In Sennar, authorities confirmed 51 cholera cases and five deaths. In North Kordofan, 20 deaths reported, while nearby villages registered dozens of infections.

El Gezira is also facing outbreaks of cholera and dengue fever, along with medicine shortages and allegations of corruption in hospitals.

Volunteers said malaria medication meant to be free is being sold at inflated prices.