Hunger and disease spreading in war-torn Sudan, WHO says
LONDON (Reuters) -Hunger and disease are spreading in war-torn Sudan, with famine already present in several areas, 25 million people acutely food insecure and nearly 100,000 cholera cases recorded since last July, the World Health Organisation said on Friday.
Sudan's conflict between the army and rival Rapid Support Forces has displaced millions and split the country into rival zones of control, with the RSF still deeply embedded in western Sudan, and funding cuts are hampering humanitarian aid.
"Relentless violence has pushed Sudan's health system to the edge, adding to a crisis marked by hunger, illness and despair," WHO Senior Emergency Officer Ilham Nour said in a statement.
"Exacerbating the disease burden is hunger," she said, adding that about 770,000 children under 5 years old are expected to suffer from severe acute malnutrition this year.
Cholera has also hit a camp for Darfur refugees in neighbouring eastern Chad, the United Nations refugee agency said on Friday.
An outbreak in the Dougui refugee settlement has so far resulted in 264 cases and 12 deaths, said Patrice Ahouansou, UNHCR's situation coordinator in the region, leading the agency to suspend the re-location of refugees from the border with Sudan to prevent new cases.
"Without urgent action, including enhancing access to medical treatment, to clean water, to sanitation, to hygiene, and most important, relocation from the border, many more lives are on the line," Ahouansou told a briefing in Geneva.
(Reporting by Matthias Williams and Lewis Macdonald Editing by Miranda Murray)
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Star
6 hours ago
- The Star
Apple to bring blood oxygen feature to some US watches with software update
FILE PHOTO: View of an Apple logo at an Apple store in Paris, France, April 23, 2025. REUTERS/Abdul Saboor/File Photo SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) -Apple will bring a blood oxygen measurement feature to some of its watch models via a software update after receiving approval from the U.S. government amid a protractedlegal dispute over the technology, it said on Thursday. The move will allow users of Apple Watch Series 9, Series 10, and Apple Watch Ultra 2 in the United States to view their blood oxygen levels on a paired iPhone. It comes after years of legal wrangling with Irvine, California-based Masimo, which has accused Apple of hiring its employees andstealing its pulse oximetry technologyafter discussing a potential collaboration. Masimo won a ruling at the U.S. International Trade Commission to block imports of watches with the feature, which prompted Apple to remove the feature and set off a lengthy appeals process. The watch models affected Thursday did not have the blood oxygen feature when shipped, but Apple said U.S. Customs had approved the software update. With the update, auser can start a session in the blood oxygen app on Apple Watch, and the Apple Watch sensors will collect data that will be used by the iPhone to calculate and display the levels, Apple said. Apple first introduced pulse oximetry in its Series 6 Apple Watches in 2020. Masimo released its blood oxygen tracking W1 watch in 2022. Masimoconvinced the ITCto block imports of Apple's Series 9 and Ultra 2 smartwatches in 2023, based on the commission's determination that Apple's technology for reading blood oxygen levels infringed upon Masimo's patents. Appletemporarily resumedsales of the watches the next day after persuading the Federal Circuit to pause the ban. The Federal Circuitreinstated the banthe next month, leading Apple toremove pulse oximetry capabilitiesfrom its watches in the United States. Masimo did not immediately respond to a request for comment. (Reporting by Stephen Nellis in San Francisco; Additional reporting by Blake Brittain in Washington and Puyaan Singh in Bengaluru; Editing by Anil D'Silva)
The Star
7 hours ago
- The Star
More than 360 hit by food poisoning after eating free school meal in Indonesian town
SRAGEN, Indonesia (Reuters) -More than 360 people fell ill in Indonesia's town of Sragen in Central Java after consuming school lunches, an official said on Thursday, in the largest food poisoning case to hit President Prabowo Subianto's flagship free meals programme. Since its launch in January, the free school meals programme has been marred by mass food poisoning cases across the archipelago, affecting over 1,000 people. Sragen government chief Sigit Pamungkas told Reuters 365 people fell ill and a food sample was being tested in a lab. The government would pay for any medical treatment if needed. Wizdan Ridho Abimanyu, a ninth grader at Gemolong 1 middle school, told Reuters he was woken at night by sharp pain in his stomach. He had a headache and diarrhoea, which he deduced had been caused by food poisoning after seeing schoolmates' social media posts complaining the same. The likely contaminated lunch was turmeric rice, omelette ribbons, fried tempeh, cucumber and lettuce salad, sliced apple and a box of milk, cooked in a central kitchen and distributed to several schools. "We have asked to temporarily stop the food distribution from that kitchen until the lab results are back," Sigit said. The government's National Nutrition Agency, which oversees the programme, has raised the standards of kitchen operations and delivery in the aftermath of previous food poisoning cases, its chief Dadan Hindayana told Reuters. The free meals programme has been rapidly expanded to over 15 million recipients so far. Authorities plan to reach 83 million by year-end, budgeting a total cost of 171 trillion rupiah ($10.62 billion) this year. In a food poisoning case in a city in West Java in May, more than 200 students fell ill and a lab found the food was contaminated with Salmonella and E. coli bacteria, according to media reports. ($1 = 16,106.0000 rupiah) (Reporting by Budi Purwanto in Sragen, Ananda Teresia, Stefanno Sulaiman and Gayatri Suroyo in Jakarta; Editing by Alexandra Hudson)
Barnama
13 hours ago
- Barnama
UN Warns Gaza Aid Far Below Minimum Needs As Child Malnutrition Surges
A Palestinian boy runs as aid packages are dropped from an airplane, amid a hunger crisis, in Deir Al-Balah, in the central Gaza Strip August 12, 2025. REUTERS/Ramadan Abed WASHINGTON, Aug 14 (Bernama-Anadolu) -- The United Nations (UN) warned on Wednesday that aid entering the Gaza Strip remains far below what is needed to address the worsening hunger crisis amid Israel's restrictions on the delivery of direly needed humanitarian assistance, Anadolu Ajansi (AA) reported. 'The amount of aid and goods that can be brought into Gaza does not meet the minimum requirements of people who are starving,' UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric told reporters, stressing that a ceasefire is 'critically needed' to reach those in need and ensure a sustained, scaled-up aid flow. Citing Gaza's Health Ministry, Dujarric said eight people, including three children, died from malnutrition and starvation in the past 24 hours. bootstrap slideshow 'Such reports have become a daily occurrence,' he added. The World Health Organisation on Wednesday conducted refresher training at Al-Rantisi Children's Hospital – one of only two nutrition stabilisation centres in Gaza City – to update staff on inpatient malnutrition management. The UN spokesman said a record surge in child malnutrition has forced the expansion of such facilities, with over 340 children admitted for treatment so far this year. As of Aug 5, at least 49 child deaths from malnutrition have been confirmed, including 39 under the age of five, Dujarric added. Israel has maintained a blockade on Gaza for 18 years and sealed all border crossings on March 2, collapsing a January ceasefire and prisoner swap deal, and further choking humanitarian access. Since October 2023, Israel's brutal offensive has killed more than 61,000 Palestinians – the vast majority women and children – according to local authorities, while devastating Gaza's infrastructure, collapsing its health system, and causing acute food shortages.
