KHARTOUM, June 1 (Xinhua) -- As International Children's Day falls on Monday, many Sudanese children are skipping the celebrations amid suffering from preventable diseases caught after years of conflict disrupted their routine vaccinations.
Eight-year-old Wael Salah inside a temporary health center in Kosti, White Nile State, has suffered complications from measles, and has since been left with recurring physical weakness that requires regular visits to health facilities.
Salah and his siblings lived a relatively stable life in Khartoum and regularly followed vaccination schedules and health checkups before the conflict. However, they were then forced to flee their home, leaving behind most of their belongings, including their medical records.
Salah's mother said he missed several routine vaccine doses during years of displacement before later contracting a disease that could have been prevented through immunization.
"The war did not only take away our home. It also stole things that people do not easily see, such as children's right to healthcare and protection from disease," she said.
With the healthcare system disrupted across large parts of Sudan and immunization campaigns suspended in some areas, childhood vaccination rates have declined sharply, according to local healthcare workers.
Ahmed Hassan, a pediatrician at a health center in Khartoum's Al-Azhari neighborhood, told Xinhua that missing even a single vaccine dose can expose a child to serious health risks.
"Vaccinations are not merely a routine procedure. They are a protective shield against diseases that can lead to permanent complications or death," he said, warning that many children born or raised during the conflict have missed essential doses, making them vulnerable to diseases once thought to be under control, including measles, polio, diphtheria and whooping cough.
Abdullah Mohamed, a health volunteer in mobile immunization campaigns in southern Khartoum, said healthcare teams are working under extremely difficult conditions to reach children who have missed vaccinations.
"Sometimes we have to travel long distances to reach communities that have been cut off from immunization services for months or even years," he said, adding that many families move repeatedly in search of safety, making it difficult to track children and ensure they complete their vaccine schedules.
According to the latest data from Sudan's Health Ministry, more than 1.2 million children have missed routine vaccinations because of the conflict.
It said a catch-up vaccination program is being implemented in partnership with the World Health Organization, UNICEF, and international aid organization Save the Children, to reach children who missed immunization services during the conflict.
It said about 450,000 children had been vaccinated under the program by May, despite major logistical and security challenges.
Since mid-April 2023, Sudan has been engulfed in a conflict between the Sudanese army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, which has killed tens of thousands of people and displaced millions in the country and beyond. ■