Caritas Torit Gives Out Cholera Kits as Deadly Outbreak Spreads Across South Sudan

Torit, 10 September, 2025 / 3:52 PM

The development arm of the Catholic Diocese of Torit in South Sudan has handed over cholera response kits to the country’s Eastern Equatoria State Ministry of Health to contain what has been described as a worsening cholera outbreak in the region.

Over 88,000 cases and 1,500 deaths have been reported as cholera spread across the East African nation that is reeling from a protracted civil war. More than 40,000 children, including 20,000 under five, have been affected, while millions remain at risk of infection.

In a Tuesday, September 9 report, the Director of  Caritas Torit, Fr. Ejidio Okanyi, is quoted lauding the Caritas South Sudan emergency department for facilitating the Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene (WASH) program.

“Today, we are donating these materials and cholera kits to the State Ministry of Health,” Fr. Okanyi is quoted as saying during the handover ceremony.

In the Caritas Torit report that the South Sudan’s Catholic Radio Network (CRN) published, the Caritas official adds, “Considering our collaboration with the Ministry, we felt it was important to donate them so they can help our people, since cholera is still within our communities.”

The items that Caritas Torit donated to the State Ministry of Health include 50 packets of sterile gloves, 2,000 cannulas, plasters, tetracycline capsules, IV fluids, cotton wool, and other sanitary items.

The South Sudanese state Ministry of Health gave the assurance that the materials and the cholera kits donated would be distributed to places where cholera cases have been reported.

The Director General in the Ministry of Health, Dr. Etin Concord Erib, expressed gratitude following the Catholic Church’s support, saying that the donations arrived at a critical time.

He appealed to the people of God in South Sudan, especially the residents of Ikwoto, to observe the cholera prevention guidelines such as washing hands with soap, boiling drinking water to kill germs, and keeping food clean and covered.

He also assured the people of God about the reduction of the outbreak, urging them to continue following the preventive measures to curb cholera.