UNICEF: Measles Outbreak in Darfur Amid Declining Vaccination Rates

The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) announced today (Saturday) the recording of a measles outbreak in several areas of the Darfur region since the beginning of 2026, amid a sharp decline in routine vaccination rates due to the collapse of health services caused by the conflict.

Eva Hinds, UNICEF’s Chief of Communication in Sudan, explained that “the decrease in measles vaccination coverage in recent years has led to significant immunity gaps, contributing to the outbreak in several Darfur states.”

She added that “the organization, in cooperation with the Federal and State Ministries of Health and its partners, has launched urgent and large-scale vaccination campaigns against measles and rubella, targeting approximately 6 million children in the Darfur states, with the aim of closing immunity gaps and limiting the spread of the disease to other states.”

Hinds noted that these campaigns are part of broader efforts to strengthen routine immunization, improve disease surveillance, and integrate vaccination services with primary healthcare in high-risk areas.

She emphasized that UNICEF is also supporting the training of health workers, intensifying community engagement, and providing logistics for vaccine distribution to curb the transmission of outbreaks to neighboring countries and to reach displaced persons and hard-to-reach populations.