Looming Threat of Overwhelming Multiple Disease Outbreaks in Sudan: A Call for Urgent Action

Sudan faces a looming threat of multiple overwhelming infectious disease outbreaks in 2026, driven primarily by conflict, displacement, and weakened health systems. Likely climate events, including floods, droughts, and heat waves, increase the likelihood and potential impact of outbreaks. Many epidemic-prone diseases have been identified by the WHO as health risks with high likelihood in the first third of 2026, including cholera, dengue fever, measles, acute enteric diseases (typhoid, rotavirus), acute respiratory tract infection, hepatitis E, meningococcal diseases, and Polio type 2; and classified as either very high risk or high risk based on the potential to cause morbidity/mortality. This is alongside other non-epidemic health crises such as malaria, malnutrition, and sexual and gender-based violence. There is an urgent need to strengthen key interventions, including the provision of safe water and sanitation and hygiene promotion for water-borne disease prevention and control, integrated vector surveillance and control for vector-borne diseases like dengue and malaria, and addressing low vaccination coverage through the re-establishment of routine immunizations and vaccination campaigns for diseases like diphtheria, pertussis, and meningitis. Strong community engagement (CE) remains central to preventing looming outbreak threats, alongside a commitment to coordination, funding, and implementation support for the Government of Sudan by UN agencies, including UNICEF and WHO, and humanitarian and development agencies, while ensuring localization. Collaborative efforts addressing vulnerabilities, healthcare preparedness, and community participation are required to limit the impact of the looming threat.