“Malnourished children and mothers are dying due to lack of access to care, and cholera is spreading in many parts of [Sudan]. Aid workers face immense challenges,” WHO regional director Hanan Balkhy told a briefing in Cairo. “Without immediate intervention, famine and disease will claim countless more lives.” Estimates of the number of deaths run into tens of thousands but are highly uncertain, with control of the country split between the army and the rival Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and health facilities crippled. In the capital, Khartoum, 75% of health facilities are out of operation while the situation in the west and south of the country is worse, according to the WHO. More than 20,000 cholera cases have been recorded this year in half of Sudan’s 18 states, an outbreak spreading faster than another one in 2023, said Richard Brennan, a WHO regional emergency director. An oral vaccination campaign is due to start this week following the arrival of 1.4 million doses, with another 2.2 million doses expected later, he said.