Sudan’s Health System Teeters on Brink of Collapse
Since Sudan’s conflict erupted on April 15, UNICEF, WHO, and their partners have been scrambling to keep health services alive. But mounting security risks, restricted access, and dwindling resources now threaten a full-scale health disaster.
Healthcare Under Siege: Hospitals Looted, Staff Unpaid
Six months in, the outlook is grim. Around 70% of hospitals in war-torn states are out of action. Health workers haven’t been paid for months, while facilities are looted or destroyed. The World Health Organization confirms 58 attacks on healthcare sites, killing 31 workers and patients, and injuring 38 more.
Ongoing fighting in Khartoum, Darfur, and Kordofans compounds the nightmare. The rainy season worsens access problems and fuels deadly waterborne diseases, including a recent cholera outbreak.
Millions Displaced, Children Face Deadly Threats
- Sudan now tops the world for internal displacement, with over 7.1 million people uprooted—4.5 million since the conflict began.
- More than 5.8 million people, including 2.5 million children, are newly displaced and cut off from food, clean water, healthcare, and sanitation.
- Rising malnutrition and collapsing health services risk thousands of preventable child deaths.
Modelling by Johns Hopkins warns at least 10,000 children under five could die by year-end due to starvation and disrupted healthcare—20 times more than those killed in the fighting itself.
Malnutrition hits hard: 700,000 children suffer severe acute malnutrition; 100,000 need urgent medical care.
Disease Outbreaks Spiral Out of Control
Cholera has erupted in Gedaref, Khartoum, and South Kordofan, killing 65 out of 1,310 cases. Suspected cases pop up in Gezira state.
Meanwhile, measles (4,296 cases, 108 deaths), dengue (4,307 cases, 16 deaths), and malaria (over 710,000 cases, 27 deaths) are spreading fast. Limited access hampers confirmation and response.
UNICEF and WHO Sound the Alarm for Swift Action
Mandeep O’Brien, UNICEF’s Sudan head, warns: “Maternal, newborn, and child health services have been decimated. Health workers unpaid, supplies low, and infrastructure repeatedly attacked. We urgently need safe access and resources to save Sudan’s youngest.”
WHO’s Dr Nima Saeed Abid adds: “Millions are now without basic healthcare. We’re fighting to provide life-saving treatment and prevent needless deaths. But attacks on health facilities and blocked access must stop. Peace is the only way forward.”
With millions at risk, the clock is ticking to save Sudan’s fragile health system before a full-blown humanitarian catastrophe unfolds.
