Now is the time to act for Sudan: a call for renewed commitment to saving lives

Haffiya Elyas

Five months of war in Sudan have had a deadly impact on the lives, livelihoods and health of the people. A health system that was already weak and struggling due to conflict, disease outbreaks and hunger is buckling under the immense pressure of the war. Health is under threat in the face of mass displacement, injuries, hunger, floods and disease outbreaks. Even more so in a context of attacks on health care, scarce medical supplies and equipment, and lack of health workers and cash.

WHO has verified 56 attacks on health care, resulting in 11 deaths and 38 injuries, since the war began. The Organization is concerned that 26 of these attacks took place after the signing, on 11 May 2023, of the Jeddah Declaration of Commitment to Protect the Civilians of Sudan. Attacks on health care are a violation of international humanitarian law and must stop.

According to WHO about 70% of hospitals in conflict-affected states are nonfunctional as a result of these attacks combined with the insecurity, shortage of medical supplies, and lack of cash to meet operational costs and salaries. Functioning hospitals and clinics in non-conflict-affected states are overwhelmed by the influx of internally displaced people. Health workers in Sudan are saving lives while their own lives are at high risk.

The war has displaced 5.2 million people – 4.1 million within Sudan and 1.1 million into neighbouring countries. As a result, the health systems of Sudan and the 6 countries hosting its refugees  are stretched to capacity. Overcrowding, shortages of food and water, lack of sanitation and poor hygiene in camps put the displaced at high risk of malnutrition and disease outbreaks. Children in these camps are already dying from malnutrition and vaccine-preventable diseases, like measles and rubella.

Some 24.7 million people – half the population of Sudan – need humanitarian assistance. Of this number, 20.3 million face high acute food insecurity. In children, hunger plus disease outbreaks can lead to serious illness and even death. Sudan is faced with this deadly combination, with 3.4 million children aged under 5 years acutely malnourished and ongoing disease outbreaks – including measles, rubella, acute watery diarrhoea/suspected cholera, malaria and dengue, WHO said .