CAIRO: War-torn Sudan is at risk of major disease outbreaks, with thousands of unburied corpses remaining out in the open and the country’s health and sanitation infrastructure destroyed, Save the Children warned on Tuesday.

Residents say Khartoum is littered with dead bodies from fighting between the forces of army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and his former deputy Mohamed Hamdan Daglo, who commands the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces.

With thousands of corpses decomposing on the streets of the capital and morgues overflowing four months into the conflict, the London-based charity raised the alarm about “the risk of major disease outbreaks in the city”. Sudan has seen repeated cholera outbreaks in recent years, and doctors have warned of a renewed threat as a result of the war.

“A horrifying combination of rising numbers of corpses, severe water shortages, non-functioning hygiene and sanitation services, and lack of water treatment options are also prompting fears of a cholera outbreak in the city,” Save the Children said.

Without a functioning public health laboratory for testing, the non-governmental organisation said it was difficult to assess whether Sudan was experiencing a cholera outbreak. Fighting has killed at least 3,900 people nationwide, according to a conservative estimate by the Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project.

Over four million people have been uprooted from their homes, the UN’s refugee agency said on Tuesday.

The UN says more than six million people are “just one step away from famine”, as aid groups struggle to deliver life-saving assistance through bureaucratic hurdles.

Published in Dawn, August 9th, 2023