Cholera outbreak highlights poor health services in southern Sudan

An outbreak of cholera has spread quickly across southern Sudan, emphasising the scale and urgency of postwar reconstruction in a region where almost half the population is displaced and only one in four people have access to medical services. An outbreak of diarrhoea that was first detected in early February in the town of Yei, near Sudan's southern border, spread quickly to the regional capital, Juba. A total of 4906 cases and 89 deaths were reported by the end of the month. By early March infections …