At least 56 children have died from a measles outbreak in a Sudanese refugee camp in the Central African Republic over the past two weeks, according to local officials, amid a worsening health crisis and a near-total collapse of medical services.
Abdullah Rabah, an official at the camp’s Women and Child Protection Centre, told Darfur24 that disease is spreading rapidly among displaced families due to the absence of basic healthcare.
He said the camp suffers from a severe shortage of medical personnel, with no doctors or essential medicines available. Only a handful of paramedics are present, providing limited first aid.
Rabah added that no vaccination campaigns have taken place in the camp since 2024, despite the growing spread of measles. Some families have resorted to securing vaccines privately, often at high cost or through personal connections, in the absence of any organised immunisation programme.
He warned that the health situation in the camp and surrounding areas is deteriorating quickly, calling for urgent international intervention to provide vaccines and restore medical services to prevent further loss of life.
