Healthcare ‘collapsing’ in Sudan as doctors flee violence

KHARTOUM, Sudan (MNTV)– With an unending conflict, Sudan experiences shortage of medical staff, especially doctors, who are fleeing the country due to worsening security situation. 

Aid agencies have spoken out about the lack of capacity at healthcare facilities in the country as more people affected by the ongoing conflict in the North African state seek medical help. 

At some hospitals, several people share a single bed while others are “dying on the floor or sent away”, Islamic Relief Worldwide said in a statement.

It was noted that more than two-thirds of hospitals in the conflict areas had shut down. The remaining ones risk closure because of “significant shortages of medical staff, medication, medical supplies, water, and electricity”.

The violence, which has disrupted supply chains along with economic degradation and corruption, has affected the amount of medicine available in the country.

Many doctors have fled the violence, the aid group said, with scores having been killed.

In North Darfur, the capital El Fasher is witnessing continuous confrontations between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF).

The UN’s Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said in its report that humanitarian partners in Sudan’s North Darfur are reporting a very dire health situation, especially in El Fasher, the state capital, and camps for displaced people in surrounding areas.

In its latest update, the office added that ongoing hostilities have caused waves of displacement, overwhelming an already fragile healthcare system struggling to meet even people’s basic needs.

OCHA’s office said humanitarian partners were trying to provide medical supplies, but their efforts to provide them remained hampered by insecurity and access restrictions.

The World Health Organization (WHO) reported that across conflict-affected areas in Sudan, more than 70 per cent of hospitals and health facilities are no longer functioning, leaving millions without health care.

As of mid-February, the organisation had recorded nearly 150 attacks on health care in Sudan since the war there began, but the real figure could be much higher.

OCHA renewed its call on parties to the conflict to ensure safe, sustainable and timely humanitarian access to people in need of life-saving support, stressing the need to protect civilians and meet the basic needs for their survival.

As reported by Radio Dabanga yesterday, the UN aims to reach nearly 21 million vulnerable people with life-saving aid and protection in 2025. 

However, sudden funding cuts by top government donors present “a catastrophic blow to humanitarian assistance in Sudan”, with an estimated $4.2 billion needed for humanitarian support, yet only 6.3 per cent of the funding has been received, the UN says.