HIGHLIGHTS

AWD cases decline in Central Darfur as aid organizations respond to the situation.

Some parts of the country will face increasing food insecurity through September 2018 – FEWS NET.

Government authorities granted permission for the extension of refugee camps in White Nile and East Darfur states.

At least 105.7 sq km of land and 37,898 km of roads have been cleared in Sudan of various types of landmines and unexploded ordinances – UNMAS.

Number of AWD cases in Central Darfur down after joint and coordinated response

Quick action on the part of Government and the United Nations was instrumental in curbing in February a new outbreak of Acute Watery Diarrhoea (AWD) in Central Darfur (Jebel Marra area). The outbreak entailed 300 new cases, reported after a ten-week period of zero cases in Central Darfur, and a three-week period of zero cases nationwide.

Sudan’s Federal Ministry of Health (FMoH) and State Ministries of Health (SMoH), the World Health Organization (WHO), the UN Children’s Agency (UNICEF), and health sector partners responded to the outbreak with an aggressive response strategy that included the establishment of isolation centres, examination centres in schools, bolstering water quality control and filtering, rapid response training in nine Central Darfur localities, and close monitoring of the situation on the ground. So far, WHO deployed an emergency team to Central Darfur from West Darfur. This team includes a public health officer and a logistics officer, as well as two team members in Zalingei providing full support to Nertiti locality. The focus and priority of the team is to respond to AWD cases and control the outbreak.

Preparations and planning for the upcoming rainy season are also underway. At the same time, preparedness activities in areas where there have been no reports of AWD are continuing, including daily reporting, replenishment of medicines and supplies, ensuring quality of safe drinking water, making sure there is an adequate number of trained staff as well as an operational plan for response, and raising public awareness on the prevention and best practices to mitigate AWD.