Humanitarian catastrophe looms in Darfur

Abstract

The lives of up to one million people affected by the conflict in the Greater Darfur region, in the west of the Republic of the Sudan, are at risk unless there is an urgent scaling up of the current international response, warned WHO following a meeting at the UN in Geneva on 3 June. The UN estimates that between 700 000 and 800 000 people in the region are expected to run out of what they need to survive by the end of June. Andrew Natsios, head of the US Agency of International Development, predicted that the death toll could reach one million if humanitarian organizations are unable to deliver aid to the war-torn province. We estimate right now if we get in, we'll lose a third of a million and if we don't the death rates could be dramatically higher, approaching a million people, said Natsios, following the meeting which brought together senior officials from donor nations, the Sudanese Government and UN agencies to intensify their response to a situation described by UN Undersecretary General for Humanitarian Affairs, Jan Egeland, as the biggest humanitarian crisis in the world today. In a statement to the UN Security Council on 24 May, the international nongovernmental organization, Medecins Sans Frontieres, described excessive levels of death and malnutrition among a displaced population that is entirely dependent on It went on to warn that relief efforts remain utterly inadequate and all indicators point to a looming famine. Adding to the urgency is the approaching seasonal monsoon, already heading northwards into eastern Chad and Darfur, which could leave 150 000 refugees who fled across the western border into Chad isolated with no access to aid. The rains will bring an increased risk of cholera, dysentery and malaria. WHO Director-General, Dr LEE Jong-wook warned of the dire effects disease epidemics could have in an already weakened population. Death and disease spiral upwards when there is inadequate food, unsafe water, improper sanitation and shelter, widespread violence, lack of public health inputs like vaccinations and insufficient access to medical said Lee. These are the realities of the current crisis in Darfur. At the beginning of June, an early warning system for monitoring and responding to disease outbreaks began operating throughout the region. The model has already been deployed successfully by WHO in Iraq and other challenging settings. The population under surveillance comprises the 1.2 million people displaced from their villages and homes as a result of the conflict, 40% of whom have no access to health care, according to WHO. The conflict in Darfur began early last year after rebel groups started attacking government targets, claiming that the region was being neglected by the government. The ensuing conflict has affected around two million people in total, of which around 1.2 million are internally displaced persons (IDPs). …