Sudan

In Sudan, staff and patients are repeatedly facing the trauma of armed groups entering and looting MSF premises with medicines, supplies and vehicles being stolen. This shocking disregard for humanitarian principles and international humanitarian law has impeded our ability to provide healthcare to people at a time when it is desperately needed.

War in Sudan has put a strain on an already fragile health system. Dr Khalid Elsheikh Ahmedana reports on the situation in Khartoum, the country's capital.

MSF supported facilities continue to provide medical care in Sudan, in Kreinik, West Darfur, in Rokero, Central Darfur, in Um Rakuba and Tinedba, Gedaref state and in Damazin, Blue Nile State. In El Fasher, North Darfur State, the MSF supported hospital continues to receive large numbers of wounded people. The teams are working around the clock to treat the injured – 410 people have so far made it to the hospital for treatment, the only health facility operational in the city and around 55 conflict-related deaths have been recorded. MSF was also able to make donations of supplies in Khartoum.

Ongoing violence continues in many parts of Sudan. Médecins Sans Frontieres/Doctors Without Borders (MSF) teams on the ground report that hospitals are overwhelmed and thousands are fleeing to safer areas. Already we are seeing immense humanitarian and medical needs.

Dr Ghazali Babiker, MSF's Sudan Country Representative, and his team in Khartoum donated supplies to a hospital that has received a large number of wounded since the fighting began on 15 April. This is the third donation we have been able to make since Sunday 23 April. However, while they were at the warehouse putting the supplies into the ambulance that would take them to the hospital, air strikes and shelling began, and they had to take cover until everything was finished. He narrates.

There is currently heavy fighting in El Fasher. We are still hearing gunfire from our compound as I speak. It is very unsafe because of the shooting and the shelling – there have been large numbers of civilian casualties.

Everywhere in the country, and especially in Khartoum, Darfur, North Kordofan and Gedaref states, our teams face serious challenges. Our premises in Nyala, South Darfur, have been looted – including one of our warehouses. In Khartoum, most teams are trapped by the ongoing heavy fighting and are unable to access warehouses to deliver vital medical supplies to hospitals. In Khartoum, even ambulances are being turned back. They are not being permitted to pass in order to retrieve the bodies of the dead from the streets – or to transport those who have been injured to hospital.

Since Saturday 15 April, intense fighting has been taking place between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in Khartoum and other parts of Sudan. Many people, including healthcare workers, are currently trapped. Where we are able to provide medical care, the situation is dire: Over the past 48 hours, Médecins Sans Frontières / Doctors Without Borders (MSF), the international humanitarian medical organisation, has received a total of 183 wounded patients at the hospital it supports in El Fasher, North Darfur – 25 have died from their injuries.

Nine Médecins sans frontières / Doctors Without Borders (MSF) staff members were detained by the Sudanese authorities in the capital Khartoum on the evening of 24 January, before being released the following morning.

Hano Yagoub, MSF’s acting emergency coordinator in Gedaref, Sudan, describes the situation in Um Rakuba camp, where 15,000 people are sheltering after fleeing violence in Ethiopia.

On 4 November, Ethiopia’s prime minister ordered military action against the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) in the Tigray region, in northern Ethiopia, following an attack on a military base.

Nasteh Shukri Mahamud, is a nurse and MSF medical team leader in Rokero, Central Darfur. He describes what it's like providing healthcare in this isolated and volatile region.

In December 2019, MSF opened a new 85-bed hospital in White Nile state, Sudan, upgrading the existing services in order to strengthen the quality of healthcare provided to South Sudanese refugees and the local community.

In Sudan, the White Nil State welcomes refugees fleeing South Sudan's war. MSF provides emergency medical care to refugees.