MSF concerned that Sudanese refugees in Chad are increasingly at risk of waterborne diseases

1 September 2023 (euronews) Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) is concerned that "malaria cases are increasing with the rainy season in Chad", noting that "refugees are increasingly at risk of waterborne diseases, such as cholera".

Hundreds of thousands of Sudanese fled the war in their country to Chad, where they found safety in fragile shacks in desert areas, but faced the equally difficult challenge of finding medical care and medicines to survive.

Since April 15, Sudan has been witnessing a bloody conflict between the army led by Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and the Rapid Support Forces led by Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, which has killed about 5,000 people and displaced 4.6 million, both inside and outside the country.

Humanitarian organisations warn of the risks of rising diseases among refugees.

MSF said this risk is likely to increase in the absence of clean water, as "people start queuing for water from two in the morning."

Hunger has left at least 500 children inside Sudan since the start of the conflict, which has pushed "more than 20 million people into acute and severe hunger", according to the World Food Programme.

Under the current war, aid workers say they have received only a quarter of their funding needs.

To make matters worse, the vast majority of Sudanese refugees were already suffering from a fragile healthcare system in the Darfur region bordering Chad, where a quarter of Sudan's population of some 48 million lives.