Meningitis and Measles Erupt Among Sudanese Refugees in Chad

Makeshift camps sheltering displaced Sudanese families in Chad are experiencing a dual outbreak of measles and meningitis caused by overcrowding, weak sanitation and lack of medical care. 

In Adré, a town in eastern Chad on the border with Sudan, 12% of the 212 children with meningitis seen by Medicins Sans Frontiere (MSF) between March and April did not recover. 

Both measles and meningitis are rife in war-torn Sudan, where the ongoing civil war between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and Rapid Support Forces (RSF) has decimated the healthcare system. More than 12 million people have fled the country since the start of the war in April 2023, with 1.3 million Sudanese people now in neighbouring Chad. 

In Sudan itself, drone attacks have increased by 70% since 2024, with more than 500 civilians killed in the first three months of 2026 alone. Health staff have taken to building makeshift operating rooms underground to shelter patients from airborne attacks. 

Ibrahim Khatir, a paediatric doctor and former director general of North Darfur’s Ministry of Health, told Think Global Health that he regularly operated on injured patients in shipping containers covered with sandbags and stone. To minimise the risk of drone attacks, he conducted operations under the light of a hand-held mobile phone until he was forced to flee to another city in October 2025. 

In Khartoum, Sudan’s capital, 87% of health facilities are non-operational. Country-wide, 70% of hospitals have been destroyed. 

According to the International Rescue Committee, Sudan is the world’s largest humanitarian and fastest-growing displacement crisis, with 34 million people needing aid.

Sophia Sheera is a journalist in Novara Media’s social media team.