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01-04-2026
GENEVA: Emergency cholera medical supplies for several African countries have become stuck in a logistical quagmire caused by the Iran war, aid officials told media, raising concerns about preparations ahead of the high-risk rainy season.
The stocks stranded in Dubai warehouses are contingency supplies placed in cholera-prone countries including Chad and Sudan ahead of the rainy months starting from May to curb any future outbreak of the fast-spreading, potentially fatal diarrhoeal disease.
Both the World Health Organization and the International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies told media that some of their African cholera supplies were stuck in a Dubai backlog. They are trying to either fly them out at 70% above the normal rate or buy replacements.
The kits create mini field hospitals for thousands of people with rehydration treatments as well as chlorine to treat sewage and drinking water to prevent further spread. “We don’t know if the kits will come in time and it will be more costly and delayed,” the IFRC’s Danielle Brouwer said. Five cholera kits to treat 3,000 people a month intended for Chad, which hosts camps for Sudan’s war refugees are among those affected as well as tents for cholera patients in South Sudan, she added.
Last year was exceptionally bad for cholera with more than 600,000 cases in 34 countries and 8,000 deaths globally, the WHO said. So far in 2026, the number of cases is down by about 50% versus 2025 but the agency warned against complacency.
“A disruption of the supply chain will have dramatic consequences because we’re talking (about) an explosive disease,” said WHO’s Lorenzo Pezzoli, team lead for epidemic bacterial diseases.
“If you don’t have the time or the resources to control it in a matter of days or even hours, you would have an extreme contamination.”
With the Strait of Hormuz shut amid Iranian attacks linked to nearly a month of US–Israeli strikes, competition to use alternative overland or air routes is creating congestion and soaring costs, the IFRC said. Many African countries like Chad do not produce their own medicines and rely fully on imports. One doctor said there have been no cholera cases this year so far but that, if they do return, there is only enough medicine for about 100 people in the eastern province of Ouaddai.
Key humanitarian air, sea and land routes are being constricted by disruption from the war in the Middle East, delaying life-saving shipments to some of the world’s worst crises, 10 aid officials have told media.
The US–Israeli war on Iran entered its seventh day on Friday, convulsing global markets and disrupting supply chains with airspace closures and the halt of shipping through the critical Strait of Hormuz.
Aid to Gaza and Sudan is grinding to a halt and costs are soaring for help to the hundreds of millions suffering hunger crises around the world.
“People in dire need of assistance will have to wait longer for food,” said Jean-Martin Bauer, Director of Food Security at the World Food Program.
Already, tents, tarpaulins and lamps destined for the Israeli-occupied Palestinian territories of Gaza and the West Bank have become stuck in the supply chain, the International Organization for Migration said.
Aid groups say higher operational costs are straining budgets already facing massive donor cuts. The IOM said shipping firms were demanding emergency surcharges of approximately $3,000 per container.
Humanitarian groups stocking goods for rapid regional deployment at warehouses in Dubai’s Humanitarian Hub face challenges moving supplies onto transit routes. (Int’l News Desk)
