#CholeraInSudan

Sudan has witnessed 265 deaths and more than 16,000 infections of what the government is called “acute watery diarrhea”, however social media users have launched a hashtag to force Khartoum to admit that the country is in the midst of a cholera epidemic and action needs to be taken.

لك الله…ي وطن😔💔😞#الكوليرا_في_السودان #كوليرا_النيل_الأبيض #CholeraInSudan pic.twitter.com/1Dd95A5oEc

— GaLaXy ☮ (@Gx_AlhaSsaN) May 26, 2017

This graphic meme posted last week says cholera is killing citizens in the White Nile state, but the government insists the deaths are caused by “watery diarrhoea”.

We're Dying..#CholeraInSudan #الكوليرا_في_السودان https://t.co/0xm3TjthSK

— لِينَة (@NotYourTypaGurl) June 7, 2017

Users have been posting advice and informational videos that illustrate how to combat the disease – some simply express despair: “We’re dying!”

Rice-water stools characteristic of cholera.#CholeraInSudan #الكوليرا_فى_السودان pic.twitter.com/xCPringaXI

— Mujtaba Ziada (@MujtabaZiada) June 7, 2017

Without declaration global organizations can not intervene. Declare it to save lives. #CholerainSudan #الكوليرا_فى_السودان pic.twitter.com/aTTjW2I4yA

— Khalid Taha (@KhalidmeTaha) June 5, 2017

However, one of the central aims of the twitter hashtag is to alert the attention of international organisations to the effects of the epidemic. Campaigners hope that global health institutions will officially declare the situation in Sudan as an outbreak of “cholera”, which will result in an intervention that will save lives.

Last week, the American embassy issued a statement warning its nationals about the cholera outbreak.

Be4 it was Oman and Russia, now the U.S.
Next?#Cholerainsudan #الكوليرا_في_السودان pic.twitter.com/Zc7j5fiGAN

— Ahmed Duraan (@duraan_99) June 2, 2017

https://twitter.com/GMohmme/status/868114240326033408

But the official reports in the newspaper firmly reject the issue and this headline reads “(Ultimately) the country cannot prevent death…we have been open about the ones who have died and taken responsibility for them.”  The article which quotes the General Manager at the Ministry of Health for the White Nile State, Dr. Babikir Adam Magboul, also says that between 25-29 people had died and patients face certain death if medicine was not administered.

اساليب المسؤلين المتكررة وضيعة و ضحلة و متشابه. نعم فقد تخرجوا من مدرسة واحدة. يا للبؤس.#الكوليرا_في_السودان #CholeraInSudan#صحة_مافي pic.twitter.com/9QSAaHWMWB

— Khalid Taha (@KhalidmeTaha) June 2, 2017

Another headline reads: “Minster of Health: Dealing with hundreds of diarrhoea cases is not my job.” While twitter user, Khalid Taha, notes: “The behaviour of those responsible is so frequently shallow and pedantic. Yes, they’re all the same. Oh what misery!”