ReliefWeb

HIGHLIGHTS

• Over 4 million children vaccinated against polio through Sudan’s national immunization campaign.

• Pastoral families in Darfur, West and South Kordofan, Kassala, Red Sea and Gedaref states are at risk of livestock losses due to poor pastures caused by low rains.

• National campaign combating child marriage in Sudan launched on 25 November.

• In 2015, an estimated 31,000 people have been affected by floods in Sudan.

National polio vaccination campaign reaches 4 million children in Sudan

More than 4 million children under 5 years have received the polio vaccination and a vitamin A supplement through the Sudan national immunization campaign conducted from 2 to 4 November, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). The campaign was conducted in all 18 states in the country with the aim of strengthening immunity against the polio virus. The last polio case in Sudan was reported in March 2009 and since then it has been polio free, according to the WHO.
Sudan is considered at risk of the wild polio virus due to the large numbers of people— including internally displaced people and refugees—moving throughout the country. WHO works with Sudan's Expanded Programme on Immunization at federal and state levels to support the planning; training of supervisors, vaccinators and volunteers; and advocating among communities in support of the campaign.

162,000 children SPLM-N areas have not received vaccinations since 2011

This campaign however, has not reached all children in the country. In South Kordofan and Blue Nile states, an estimated 162,000 children under 5 years living in areas controlled by the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement–North (SPLM-N) have not had access to routine vaccinations since fighting erupted in the areas in 2011, leaving them at risk of contracting easily preventable diseases.

The lack of vaccinations not only puts these children at risk but also risks spreading disease to children in other parts of the country. In 2012, the United Nations, the African Union and the Arab League submitted a proposal to the Government of Sudan and the SPLM-N to vaccinate these children and in April 2013, the UN developed an operational plan for the vaccination campaign. This plan has been updated on a regular basis with the latest amendment made jointly by WHO, the UN Children’s Agency (UNICEF) and the World Food Programme (WFP) in June 2015. The plan is still waiting to be implemented.

Humanitarian actors are also increasingly concerned about not being able to reach people in need in South Kordofan and Blue Nile states. According to the Food Security Monitoring Unit for Blue Nile and South Kordofan, 30,000 people in Blue Nile’s Kurmuk locality and 15,000 people in South Kordofan’s Dallami locality are in need of assistance as a result of crop failures.