Three years on, outbreaks everywhere: MSF urges end of barriers to boost Sudan’s vaccination programs

As World Immunization Week (24–30 April) ends today, MSF is calling on donors, diplomatic actors, and health authorities to increase flexible funding and pressure warring parties to end administrative obstruction, unblock delivery routes, and guarantee safe passage for humanitarian supplies. Without immediate action, outbreaks will continue to spiral, and people will keep dying from diseases we have the tools to prevent.

In just the first four months of 2026 MSF teams have treated at least 13,000 measles cases only in Darfur after responding to six outbreaks of the contagious disease, often in areas where displaced communities are settled. The outbreaks have happened in Feina, Kas and Nyala and surrounding areas (South Darfur), Tawila (North Darfur) and El Geneina (West Darfur).

Most patients treated were unvaccinated or had an unknown vaccination status. MSF has the teams, expertise, and operational capacity to deliver vaccinations, and has supported partners and health authorities to implement targeted and mass vaccination campaigns to control the outbreaks.

“In January 2026, Tawila was a measles hotspot, with 957 cases treated that month. Following a partner-led vaccination campaign that reached over 130,000 people, the number of cases declined steadily, dropping to just 40 by late April. However, the issue is that outbreaks are contained in one place only to re-emerge elsewhere, as displacement forces people to move and gaps in vaccination coverage allow diseases to spread,” says Joseph Amadomon Sagara, MSF Emergency Medical Coordinator in Sudan.

Organizing vaccination campaigns in Sudan means navigating with insufficient doses, broken supply chains, and a shortage of trained vaccinators. Added to this are layers of approvals for importation, and long delays from the Ministry of Health to develop vaccination plans or confirm outbreaks, a necessary precondition for deploying vaccines. By the time authorization is granted, the outbreak has often already spread.

“Drastic funding cuts and deliberate bureaucratic obstruction by the warring parties are blocking lifesaving vaccines and medicines from reaching people in need timely,” says Miriam Alía, MSF vaccination and outbreak advisor.

Despite these multiple challenges, vaccination drives have proven highly effective in containing the spread of a highly contagious viral disease that can cause severe illness, complications, and death, affecting disproportionately young children under five.

In El Geneina, West Darfur, measles cases fell 96% since January, from a peak to just 22 cases, following the large-scale vaccination campaign in which 186,000 doses were administered. In Central Darfur, the Ministry of Health launched its first mass vaccination campaign since the start of the war, covering 810,000 children across the state.

MSF supported the campaign in Zalingei, where high coverage has since led to a drastic reduction in hospital measles cases. In South Darfur, MSF vaccinated over 200,000 children against measles in 2026 across Kas and the remote Southern Jebel Marra region, and

supported a Ministry of Health and UNICEF campaign in Nyala and East Jebel Marra reaching over 550,000 children.

“I’m happy the children are receiving the vaccine. I’ve seen kids with measles in the community and it’s painful; they have fever and rashes, and many had to be admitted to the hospital. In the community, we can’t control the disease on our own, we need vaccines,” said Mariam, who took her 11-year-old son, Hamaza, to a vaccination site in Umalgora, in West Darfur.

"Vaccination campaigns are working, but the gains won't last without routine immunization. Across Sudan, collapsed health systems, difficult access to remote areas, and mobile teams stretched beyond capacity have left coverage far below 2022 levels. Many children are still not being reached. Until these structural gaps are addressed, outbreaks will keep coming back," says Miriam Alía, MSF Vaccination and Outbreak Advisor.

Sudan is a vast country, and many areas have remained inaccessible to humanitarian organisations during the conflict. In Rokero, Central Darfur, a mountainous area in northern Jebel Marra, a pertussis outbreak with over 1,000 cases since mid-2025 only began to decline in March.

When MSF teams reach new areas, they often find communities that have gone long periods without vaccination due to the collapse of local health systems. For example, mid-April, an exploration in Suni, South Darfur, identified dozens of cases of whooping cough, pertussis, and measles.

Beyond Darfur, MSF surveillance teams in South Khartoum are tracking disease spread as thousands return to a destroyed city with no access to basic services. In El Obeid, North Kordofan's capital, one of the most active frontlines today, MSF is supporting an isolation centre at the Teaching Hospital responding to an ongoing measles outbreak, predominantly affecting displaced populations.

Across nine of Sudan's 18 states, MSF teams are preparing for a potential cholera surge ahead of the rainy season. Since 2024, cholera has killed more than 3,5001 people in Sudan, in 2025 alone, MSF treated over 42,000 cases.