The world’s youngest nation, South Sudan, is facing a severe and worsening health emergency driven by conflict, displacement, flooding, food insecurity and repeated disease outbreaks, the World Health Organisation said Tuesday.
“These challenges are unfolding while the health system is already overstretched,” Dr Humphrey Karamagi, WHO Representative in South Sudan, said at a UN press briefing.
He said that in 2026, an estimated 6.3 million people will need health assistance, and more than 10 million people will require some form of humanitarian support.
“Recent violence in Jonglei and other affected areas has forced people to flee their homes, increasing the need for health care, food, shelter and water, sanitation and hygiene services,” said Karamagi.
Since late December 2025, he said that at least 11 health facilities have been attacked in Jonglei State alone, including hospitals, primary health care centres, and outreach facilities.
“Health facilities have been bombed, looted, vandalised, or forced to close, while ambulances and humanitarian vehicles have been seized or destroyed,” Karamagi noted.
“The consequences for civilians are immediate and severe. When vaccination, disease surveillance and referral pathways are disrupted, illnesses and deaths can rise quickly.”
South Sudan continues to face cholera, measles, mpox, malaria, acute watery diarrhoea, respiratory infections and severe acute malnutrition.
The cholera outbreak that began in September 2024 is one of the most serious recorded in the country, although sustained response efforts have helped reduce deaths and slowed transmission in several areas
The WHO warning came as the UN World Food Programme (WFP) warned at the same press conference that the number of people worldwide facing acute hunger could hit record levels in 2026 if warring in the Middle East continues to destabilise the world’s economy.
According to the WFP, countries in sub-Saharan Africa and Asia are the most vulnerable due to a reliance on food and fuel imports.
“If this conflict continues, it will send shockwaves across the globe, and families who already cannot afford their next meal will be hit the hardest,” said WFP chief operating officer Carl Skau, in Geneva.
“Without an adequately funded humanitarian response, it could spell catastrophe for millions already on the edge.”
Projections indicate an increase of 21% in food-insecure people for West and Central Africa and 17% for East and Southern Africa. An increase of 24% is forecast for Asia.
Sudan, for example, imports around 80% of its wheat – a higher price for this staple will push more families into hunger.
In Somalia, reeling from a severe drought, the prices of some essential commodities have risen by at least 20% since the conflict began, according to local reports.
Both are countries with high levels of food insecurity that have also experienced famine in recent years.
Meanwhile, in South Sudan, the cholera outbreak that began in September 2024 is one of the most serious recorded in the country, although prolonged response efforts have helped reduce deaths and slowed its spread in several areas.
According to the WHO, South Sudan has the highest maternal mortality rate in the world, estimated at over 2,000 deaths per 100,000 live births.
Landlocked, South Sudan became independent from Sudan after many years of bitter war in 2011, and had an estimated population of just over 12.7 million in 2024.