The number of deaths from the disease in both states, according to data from the NGO Save the Children, released here today, is close to 600, most of them in Sudan, a country shaken by a civil war from 18 months ago, where the number of deaths exceeds 550.

In Sudan, between July and September last year, more than 17,600 infections were recorded, of which 546 died, according to statistics from the organization, in consultative status with the UN Economic and Social Council.

In Nigeria, the situation is less critical, although it arouses apprehensions due to the fact that 450 people have been infected and 32 have died from the disease, which is endemic in most African countries and outbreaks of which occur during the rainy season, aggravated by poor health services and the shortage of professionals.

These are compounded by the absence of vital medicines, hunger and malnutrition, as well as the almost non-existence of environmental hygiene and the consumption of contaminated food and water.

The weak light at the end of the tunnel appeared last weekend with the arrival in Sudan of 1,400,000 doses of vaccine against the lethal disease, urgently sent by the United Nations Children’s Fund.

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