One side controls health laboratory in Sudan: UN warns

UN officials said on Tuesday that one side in the Sudan conflict has taken control of a national health laboratory in the capital Khartoum that houses biological material. Officials have described it as an “extremely dangerous” turn in the Sudan conflict. The announcement comes as officials warned that more refugees could leave Sudan despite a cease-fire between the rival forces. A fierce struggle for power between the army and paramilitary groups continues in Sudan, leading to chaos in the country.

Before the conflicts, the United Nations estimated that a third of Sudan’s population, or some 16 million people, were in need of aid, and the figure was expected to rise. WHO representative in Sudan, Dr. Nima Sayeed, expressed concern that “one party” has taken control of the Central Public Health Laboratory in Khartoum and “has driven out all the staff” Sayeed, however, did not give any specific information on which side had captured the laboratory.

“It is very dangerous because there are ‘polio isolates’ in the laboratory,” he told those attending the meeting in Geneva via video call from Port Sudan. There are ‘micelles (measles) isolates’ in the laboratory. There are ‘Cholera isolates’ in the laboratory. “The capture of the Central Public Health Laboratory in Khartoum by one of the fighting parties poses a major biological threat,” he said.

According to the WHO, furloughing staff and cutting off electricity in Khartoum means “it will not be possible to properly manage biological materials stored in the laboratory for medical purposes”. At least 20,000 people have since moved to Chad. Olga Sarrado, a spokeswoman for the UN refugee agency, said some 4,000 South Sudanese refugees living in Sudan have returned to their country. At the meeting in Geneva, he said, “Displacement has increased both within and outside the country due to the conflict.

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