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Written question asked by Mark Simmonds (Conservative) on Wednesday, 8 March 2006, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Friday, 10 March 2006. It was answered by Hilary Benn (Labour) on Wednesday, 15 March 2006 on behalf of the Department for International Development.

Sudan

Question
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development if he will make a statement on the recent outbreak of cholera in Sudan; and what steps his Department is taking to prevent the disease spreading.
Answer

DFID have been closely monitoring the cholera outbreak in Southern Sudan since it began late January. The outbreak started in Yei town in Southern Sudan and subsequently spread to Juba and a dozen other towns further East and North. To date (12 March) 212 people have died from the disease from a case load of 6,744. The recent outbreak and its subsequent rapid spread to neighbouring towns underlines the threat of disease while the imminent onset of the rainy season will serve to increase the difficulties faced by vulnerable people.DFID has been active in supporting the co-ordination of response efforts in the South and in monitoring the situation. The emergency preparedness and response unit managed by the United Nations Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA) together with the World Food Organisation (WHO) have been at the forefront of co-ordinating the response to the outbreak. DFID has been working closely with OCHA providing technical advice, support and funding.Through the Emergency Response Fund (ERF) of UNOCHA, DFID has provided over $350,000 to eight UN agencies and non-governmental organisations assisting with the response to the cholera outbreak. An additional $750,000 of DFID funds remains with the ERF for continued assistance to agencies if the disease spreads further.In addition to support such chronic and rapid onset emergencies, the UK is providing early and significant contributions to the UN 2006 Work plan, from which the UN humanitarian co-ordinator has already allocated over $40 million to the South including an allocation of US $500,000 to the Emergency Response Fund. The UN humanitarian co-ordinator additionally holds an emergency reserve of $10 million (to which DFID was a significant contributor) which could be accessed to scale up the response to the outbreak should the need arise.

Secondary information

Type
Written question
Reference
58041; 443 c2253-4W;443 c2254W
Session
2005-06
Subjects
Diseases Disease control Sudan Darfur Cholera
Link
View this Written question on www.publications.parliament.uk