PORT SUDAN, 5 October 2024 – A UNICEF-chartered plane carrying 1.4 million doses of oral cholera vaccines arrived in Port Sudan, Sudan, early this morning, to bolster efforts to protect children from the ongoing cholera outbreak affecting the country.

Since the current outbreak began in July 2024, over 18,000 cases of cholera and approximately 550 deaths have been reported in 10 states across the country.

The new batch of vaccines adds to the 404,000 doses UNICEF delivered to Sudan last month and will be used in the ongoing immunization campaigns. The campaigns aim to vaccinate 1.81 million people against cholera in the hardest-hit states: Gedaref, Kassala and River Nile.

Besides cholera, concurrent outbreaks of other diseases – such as dengue, malaria and measles – are taking hold in at least 12 of Sudan’s 18 states. Earlier this week, UNICEF delivered nearly 190,000 doses of malaria vaccines to the country to help protect children from malaria.