Get all your news in one place.
100’s of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
Reuters
Reuters
Health

UNICEF: More than 1 million polio vaccines destroyed in Sudan

FILE PHOTO: Smoke is seen rise from buildings during clashes between the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces and the army in Khartoum North, Sudan. April 22, 2023. REUTERS/ Mohamed Nureldin Abdallah/File Photo

More than 1 million polio vaccines intended for children have been destroyed as a result of looting in Sudan during the upsurge in violence since April, the U.N. children's agency UNICEF told Reuters on Friday.

"A number of cold chain facilities have been looted, damaged and destroyed, including over a million polio vaccines in South Darfur," Hazel De Wet, deputy director of the Office of Emergency Programmes, UNICEF told Reuters in an email.

The agency was in the middle of a series of polio vaccination campaigns in Sudan following an outbreak at the end of 2022.

FILE PHOTO: A UNICEF logo is pictured outside their offices in Geneva, Switzerland, January 30, 2017. Picture taken January 30, 2017. REUTERS/Denis Balibouse/File Photo

Polio, a disease which mainly affects children under 5, can lead to paralysis and death. Africa was declared free of wild polio in 2020 but Malawi, Mozambique and Sudan have reported imported cases since last year.

A World Health Organization database shows there have been 28 attacks on health care facilities in Sudan since the conflict erupted last month, pitting Sudan's army against the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces.

Numerous humanitarian agencies have reported looting during the Sudan crisis including the World Food Programme, which said it lost $13-$14 million worth of supplies.

(Reporting by Emma FargeEditing by Miranda Murray)

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100’s of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
One subscription that gives you access to news from hundreds of sites
Already a member? Sign in here
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.