In Toker, Red Sea state, 80 cases of malaria were reported within a week, and four people died. The Ministry of Health in Khartoum has stressed the need for urgent action to control the rising number of infections in the city. Osman Salem told Radio Dabanga from Toker that the four malaria patients died in the local hospital on Monday. He said the hospital is overcrowded and faces a severe shortage of medical staff and medicines.
On the same day, journalist Osman Hashim reported that a group of Toker residents met with a World Health Organization (WHO) representative in Port Sudan, the Red Sea capital, to voice concerns about mesquite trees and their impact on malaria prevalence in the area. The situation in Khartoum is similarly alarming. Mohamed El Tijani, director of Emergency and Epidemic Control, said last month that more than 5,000 malaria cases had been recorded in the capital and that carrier indicators remain high, requiring intensified implementation of the ministry’s control plans.
According to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in Sudan, malaria cases in late 2022 surpassed the epidemic threshold in 14 of the 18 Sudanese states—a two‑fold increase compared with 2021. The number is expected to rise further this year. The spread of malaria is closely linked to non‑piped sources of domestic water. In a March press release, UNICEF noted that many rural Sudanese struggle daily to access safe water: only 53 % of rural households have improved drinking‑water sources within a 30‑minute walk, while 28 % must travel even farther.
Journalist Ahmed Rabah told Radio Dabanga earlier this week that most neighborhoods still rely on donkey carts selling drinking water. Mesquite trees, introduced to Sudan in 1917 for their fast growth, drought resistance, and tolerance of grazing, have since had negative public‑health consequences. Residents have repeatedly complained about the invasive shrubs. A study published in the *Malaria Journal* in July 2017 found that removing mesquite flowers from mosquito‑prone areas can significantly reduce malaria transmission; in Mali, flower removal lowered the local mosquito vector population by nearly 60 %.
These findings serve as a wake‑up call to address a possible root cause of the outbreak and to identify appropriate solutions. The upcoming World Malaria Day on April 25 will focus on the theme “Time to deliver zero malaria: invest, innovate, implement.”
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