28 June-4 July 2026 Sudan News Summary: Cholera outbreak, medical supplies run low in Tawila, red alert over El Obeid

5 Jul

Arabic news roundup

By William Greenwood

On Saturday, the Preliminary Committee of the Sudan Doctors Syndicate revealed a rise in cholera infection and mortality rates in the Al-Mazroub area, located west of the city of Bara in North Kordofan State.
Al-Mazroub has become the epicentre of the cholera outbreak after the disease spread there from areas in West Kordofan.
Al-Mazroub Hospital has received 418 cholera cases, with 61 patients currently undergoing treatment at the isolation center.
These indicators reflect an accelerating epidemiological curve, occurring as the health system struggles to curb the disease's spread due to deteriorating environmental sanitation services, contaminated water sources, malfunctioning sewage networks, and a scarcity of safe drinking water.
Volunteers have increasingly reported shortages of medical supplies, even as cholera cases rise in areas of North and West Kordofan controlled by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF).

Health sources warned on Saturday of impending medical supply shortages in Tawila, North Darfur.
These warnings follow the recent decision to suspend the operations of the French organisation Doctors Without Borders (MSF) in areas controlled by the government.
In recent days, Tawila Hospital has seen the departure of several department heads due to the expiration of work permits and the organisation's withdrawal of most of its foreign staff following the suspension of its activities.
It was noted that medical supplies—specifically medicines, antibiotics, malaria treatments, painkillers, and paediatric medications—would run out within just two months, with no local alternatives available due to the disruption of supply chains.
From: Darfur24

By Samuel Hunt

UN human rights chief Volker Türk told the UN Human Rights Council that another catastrophe is unfolding in el-Obeid, where at least 45 civilians have been killed in 15 drone strikes since early June and 500,000 residents face an imminent RSF ground offensive after 18 months of siege-like conditions; he urged heads of state to act immediately, warning "this is not a drill."
The ICRC and Sudan Red Crescent have provided a month's worth of food to more than 42,000 people across North Kordofan, alongside nutritional supplements for 7,000 children and pregnant women, while 36 Red Crescent volunteers deliver first aid across 12 displacement sites and over 850 weapon-wounded patients have been treated at el-Obeid Teaching Hospital since January.
In Um Rakuba camp in eastern Sudan, the number of organisations operating has fallen from 35 to fewer than 10 since 2021, with MSF now the sole provider of secondary healthcare; food rations have dropped from 14kg per person per month before the war to as little as 2.5kg, as funding cuts leave communities feeling "increasingly abandoned."

Bill Greenwood