Sudan’s Health Services Near Collapse as Funding Cuts Bite, Warns Medical Charity

War is increasing Sudan’s humanitarian needs while funding cuts are reducing the response,” said Muhammad Ibrahim, head of the charity’s operations in Sudan.

Although MSF’s activities in Sudan rely on private financing, when other health services lose funding, clinics shut down, patients lose access points, and the burden concentrates on the remaining facilities, including ours.

Consequently, patients frequently endure lengthy and perilous journeys to reach care.

After enduring longer, costlier trips, patients often arrive in worse condition, and hospitals may already be at capacity,” explained Sebastián Traficante, MSF’s emergency coordinator for western Darfur, an area that has borne the brunt of fighting over the past three years.

From January to April 2026, admissions at MSF‑supported facilities in central Darfur rose 22.5 % compared with the same period the previous year.

In May alone, 45 health centres in the region lost their funding, the organization reported.

According to MSF, the shuttering of frontline services is placing intense strain on remaining hospitals, which are losing operational capacity and seeing medicines disappear.

MSF cited Gedaref state’s Tanedba camp—home to 18,400 displaced people—as an example; its maternity and surgical wards closed after a humanitarian organization withdrew in June.

As a result, MSF operates an emergency room there, yet pregnant women requiring surgical delivery must travel three hours to the nearest city.

In the Um Rakuba camp, also in Gedaref, the number of aid agencies present has fallen from 35 in 2021 to fewer than 10 today.

According to the charity, the camp now shelters about 17,000 people, the majority of whom are women and children.

“If support does not increase, more patients will endure longer journeys, have fewer treatment options, and face a higher risk of arriving too late for care,” said Liz Harding, MSF’s UK humanitarian representative.

While the health system grapples with funding shortfalls, attacks on healthcare workers persist, MSF noted.

In 2025, Sudan recorded 1,620 fatalities from attacks on medical facilities, a figure that MSF said represents 82 % of all global deaths linked to healthcare‑facility attacks.

According to the UN, over 19.5 million people are experiencing crisis‑level food insecurity, while more than five million are confronting emergency levels of hunger.

The fighting shows no sign of abating, even as international diplomats are expected to arrive in Khartoum for talks aimed at ending the civil war.

Reports from North Kordofan state on Tuesday indicate that at least 11 people were killed in a drone strike on the army‑held town of Umm Ruwaba; medical sources said the projectile hit a crowded courtyard within a court complex.

Source link