Medical sources at Kadugli Teaching Hospital told Darfur24 that the health situation in the city is deteriorating due to the spread of diseases, stating that the number of deaths from cholera has exceeded 500 cases, mostly concentrated in the Kadugli and Eastern Rural localities.

The sources confirmed that recent weeks have witnessed a worrying rise in the daily death rate, ranging between 10 to 15 cases per day, amid an almost complete lack of essential medicines, foremost among them intravenous fluids, which are only available in private pharmacies at exorbitant prices reaching 50,000 Sudanese pounds per bag.

They added that “government hospitals in the city are almost devoid of the simplest treatment services, as medicines, laboratory fluids, and even anesthetics are unavailable, which exacerbates the suffering of women during childbirth.”

They pointed out that medical services are only available in private clinics at high prices unaffordable for most residents, where the highest current salary ranges between 150,000 to 200,000 Sudanese pounds.

The sources warned that the health situation in Kadugli is likely to deteriorate further, as citizens suffer from general immune weakness due to hunger, lack of nutrients and fluids, alongside the spread of diseases such as malaria with a total lack of treatment, as well as scarcity of antibiotics and fever reducers, putting the city before a dual health and livelihood crisis threatening the lives of thousands of its residents.

Earlier, two sources from the Ministry of Health told Darfur24 that cholera infections until September 27 reached 1,851 cases, including 183 deaths.

They indicated that the epidemic spread in eight states, with Kadugli recording the highest number of infections, making it the main center of disease outbreak.

On the other hand, the appearance of autumn products and the decline in prices of some basic food commodities helped ease the living burdens on citizens.

A trader in Kadugli city, Ali Abdullah Saleh, told Darfur24 that prices of basic commodities have dropped significantly compared to previous months, with the price of a bag of sorghum falling from 90,000 pounds to between 17,000 and 24,000 pounds in cash. The price of a pound of oil dropped from 50,000 to 16,000 pounds, and a kilo of sugar decreased from 55,000 to 16,000 pounds. Meanwhile, the price of flour fluctuated between 17,000 and 30,000 pounds, and rice between 50,000 and 55,000 pounds. The price of cornmeal also dropped from 10,000 pounds to 3,000, while a kilo of goat meat decreased from 32,000 to 28,000 pounds.