10.04.2025 – (12:01 PM) Htate

Children are dying of cholera in South Sudan after the US cut off aid, forcing them to walk miles to get to clinics, an international NGO warned on April 9.

The impoverished country has been plagued by security problems since independence in 2011 and a peace deal that ended five years of civil war is in danger of unraveling.

Cholera cases have surged since September, with an average of 40,000 cases reported, according to UNICEF, the worst cholera outbreak in the country’s short history.

On April 9, the British charity Save the Children said five children had died in South Sudan’s eastern Jonglei state, where children could no longer walk hours to get to clinics.

The charity had planned to support 27 clinics in the eastern province of Abo, but after USAID funding was cut, seven of the clinics were closed permanently, while about 20 others were only open temporarily.

The US President Donald Trump’s decision to cut funding to USAID, which provides nearly $43 billion in annual funding, or about 40 percent of global humanitarian aid, has affected programs around the world.

“We are happy that we have enough doctors and medicine. We were not in such dire straits before. Now we are in dire straits,” said Sarah, a 24-year-old cholera patient.

The community has been struggling with a shortage of medicine since USAID funding was cut, said Michael, a volunteer health worker.

“We see patients suffering, but we can’t help,” he said.

“The cholera outbreak is getting worse,” Michael said, adding that they can only give patients intravenous fluids.

The news comes after UNICEF said nearly 700 people died from cholera between September and March, half of them children under 15.

Nine of South Sudan’s 10 states are affected by the outbreak, with eastern Jonglei state the worst-hit.

“It’s really sad to look back on the situation in these places. It’s like the end of the world,” said county director Chris Ramandi.