More than 1,200 children have died in Sudanese refugee camps since May, and thousands of newborns could die in the war-torn country by the end of the year, the United Nations said Tuesday.
The UN has issued a warning about the impact of the crisis in Sudan on children’s health.
“Due to brutal neglect of civilians and continued attacks on health and nutrition facilities, UNICEF fears that several thousand newborns will die by the end of the year,” he told reporters. James Elder, spokesperson for the United Nations children’s agency. in Geneva.
He indicated that 333 thousand people are expected to be born in the country between October and December. children, but at the same time catering services were “destroyed” in this war-torn country.
“Every month 55 thousand children must be rescued from deadly bondage, but less than one in 50 nutritional centers operate in Khartoum. In West Darfur, it is one in ten,” Elder said.
The UN refugee agency, for its part, said its teams in Sudan’s White Nile state found that more than 1,200 children under the age of five had died in nine refugee camps between 15 May and September 14.
These camps mainly housed refugees from South Sudan and Ethiopia, UNHCR public health official Allen Maina told reporters in Geneva.
About 3,100 suspected cases of measles were also reported during the same period, and more than 500 suspected cases of cholera, as well as outbreaks of dengue and malaria, were reported in other parts of the country, it said. the agency.
“The world has the means and the money to prevent every death from measles or malnutrition,” said UNHCR chief Filippo Grandi. “We can prevent deaths, but we need money to respond, reach those in need and, most importantly, end the fighting.”
UNICEF also said it was critically short of funds, noting that it had only received a quarter of the $784 million. euros, to which they asked to be able to help 10 million. children in Sudan, Elder said. “This lack of funding means lives lost.”
Source: The Delfi
