(ABYEI) – Authorities in the Abyei Administrative Area have issued an urgent appeal to South Sudan’s national Ministry of Health and humanitarian partners to intensify their response to a worsening cholera outbreak, which has already killed 24 people and infected more than 1,000 others.
Yohana Akol, the Minister of Information for Abyei, confirmed that the situation is deteriorating rapidly, with local health facilities overwhelmed and medical supplies in dangerously short supply. The outbreak, which began in recent days, is being described by officials as catastrophic and likely to spread further without immediate intervention.
“We requested 600,000 vaccines, but what we received is very little, enough for only about 2,000 people,” Akol said in an interview with media. He noted that the small consignment of vaccines recently delivered by the Ministry of Health is inadequate for the scale of the crisis.
The region, which borders both Sudan and South Sudan, has limited public health infrastructure and is struggling with both medical and logistical challenges. The lack of vaccines is compounded by a critical shortage of public awareness tools such as radio stations, which local leaders say could help inform residents about how to prevent and respond to cholera infections.
“We are also appealing to NGOs and all concerned institutions including the national Ministry of Information to provide us with a radio station,” said Akol. “Because of the lack of awareness, cholera is spreading everywhere.”
Local authorities say the outbreak is being worsened by poor access to clean water and a general lack of hygiene infrastructure. Community members in the affected areas are relying on contaminated water sources, increasing the risk of rapid transmission of the disease.
Cholera is a waterborne bacterial infection that spreads mainly through contaminated water and food. It causes severe diarrhoea and dehydration, and can be fatal without timely treatment. The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends a combination of public education, clean water access, and vaccination to curb outbreaks.
So far, Abyei has received vaccines for less than 0.5 percent of its population. Officials say this limited coverage poses a serious risk to the broader region, especially with continued population movements across borders and into internally displaced communities.
| Requested Vaccines | Vaccines Received | Population Coverage |
|---|---|---|
| 600,000 doses | 2,000 doses | 0.33 percent |
Health facilities in Abyei remain under strain, with MSF (Médecins Sans Frontières) and other medical teams attending to patients in overcrowded centres with limited supplies. Akol stressed that without more vaccines, public health outreach, and basic sanitation tools, the outbreak will continue to spiral out of control.
He called on the national government, development partners and health organisations to treat the cholera outbreak as a national emergency and scale up coordinated action across all affected areas.
