‘333 people suffering from watery diarrhoea’: Sudanese Health Ministry

The acute watery diarrhoea. suspected to be caused by cholera, that appeared in Sudan about four months ago continues to claim lives in eastern Sudan’s Red Sea and El Gedaref states.

On Thursday, one patient died and ten new cases were recorded in the area of Tomala in Red Sea state.

Ahmed El Bashir, Director of the General Administration of Preventive Medicine of the Khartoum state Ministry of Health, announced nine new cases in hospitals in Khartoum North on Thursday.

The director attributed the spread of ‘watery diarrhoea’ to contaminated foods, and criticised the lack of commitment to health requirements in places selling food. He denied that people died of the disease.

The under-secretary of the federal Health Ministry, Samia Akad, acknowledged the spread of the “watery diarrhoea epidemic” in eastern Sudan and Khartoum. She reported that last week 333 people were suffering from the deadly disease in El Gedaref, Red Sea, and Khartoum states.

“The Health Ministry however, did not announce clear measures to contain the disease,” journalist Osman Hashim, specialised in covering health issues in eastern Sudan told Radio Dabanga.

He warned for a continued spreading of the disease in Red Sea state “because of the lack of qualified health facilities”, and demanded the state government and health institutions “to immediately intervene to save lives”.

Cholera

Last week, a member of the Doctors' Executive Committee, told Radio Dabanga in an interview broadcast on Friday that the results of laboratory tests on acute diarrhoea samples conducted in the Ahmed Gasim Hospital in Khartoum proved that it was cholera.

The medic criticised the federal Ministry of Health for keeping silent about the disease in spite of the confirmation by laboratories.

“The management problems at the Health Ministry have impeded containment of the disease,” he said. “Instead of acknowledging the disease and taking measures to prevent the spread of cholera during the past six months, the authorities opted for not announcing the test results.’