MSF charity calls situation ‘beyond urgent’ as thousands seeking refuge from war rely on contaminated water
The “worst cholera outbreak in years” has killed at least 40 people in the last week in Sudan, according to the medical charity Médecins Sans Frontières.
Overwhelmed medical centres are resorting to treating patients on mattresses on the floor, MSF said, as the country’s two-year civil war aids the spread of the disease.
Sylvain Penicaud, MSF project coordinator in Tawila, North Darfur state, said families in displacement and refugee camps often had no choice but to drink dirty water, the main cause of cholera.
“Just two weeks ago, a body was found in a well inside one of the camps. It was removed, but within two days, people were forced to drink from that same water again,” he said.
