EAST DARFUR — Health authorities launched a vaccination campaign across East Darfur scheduled to run from April 18 to 24, after a measles outbreak in Labado infected about 1,000 people and killed approximately 70 since March. Vaccines arrived on April 11 from Chad via UNICEF following a prolonged period without supply.

The outbreak has struck several districts of Labado, whose 12 residential neighbourhoods have a population of roughly 12,000, including displaced people who arrived during the war, according to Mohamed Abdel Aziz of the Labado crisis unit. Across four districts of East Darfur state, measles has resulted in 300 cases and 26 deaths, Dr Jabir al-Nadeef said.

The first measles cases of the current outbreak in Darfur were recorded in January, according to UNICEF. Health facilities in Darfur are nonfunctional due to the war, routine vaccination has been halted and medical personnel have left the region.

Teams conducting home visits to follow up on a training workshop for women on fire-prevention discovered the outbreak when they saw that almost half of the homes visited had measles cases, Abdel Aziz said. Medicines ran out at the government health center on February 23. Drugs remain available at private pharmacies in Labado, but most residents cannot afford them, with intravenous fluids costing 8,000 Sudanese pounds and antibiotics ranging from 10,000 to 15,000 Sudanese pounds. A local organisation provided a limited medicine supply that was exhausted within two days.

All areas of East Darfur have been supplied with vitamin A for prevention and treatment of complications, al-Nadeef said. Patients who reach a health facility are isolated until recovery, and families are responsible for purchasing medicines needed to treat complications, he added.

"Measles cases continue to be reported across Darfur, with insecurity, displacement, damaged health facilities, and prolonged disruption to routine immunisation all constraining the response," UNICEF spokesperson for Sudan Eva Hinds said. "Measles vaccination coverage has fallen to 46 percent, while routine immunisation – measured by the first dose of the diphtheria, tetanus, and pertussis vaccine – dropped to just 48 percent in 2024, threatening decades of progress in child health," she added.

A measles-rubella vaccine catch-up campaign has been completed across all localities in Central Darfur and West Darfur and parts of North and South Darfur, reaching approximately 2.1 million children aged nine to 14, according to UNICEF. Vaccination in remaining areas, including East Darfur, is scheduled for mid to end of April, aiming to reach close to 750,000 children across all nine localities of East Darfur.

Measles is one of the world's most contagious diseases, spread by contact with infected nasal or throat secretions or by airborne transmission, according to the World Health Organization. Outbreaks can result in severe complications and deaths, especially among young, malnourished children. There is no specific treatment for measles.