Humanitarian organisations are raising alarm over the deteriorating healthcare situation in Sudan, where 70% of medical facilities are either closed or barely functional due to ongoing violence and targeted attacks.
In a newly released report titled “Besieged, Attacked, Starved”, Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), also known as Doctors Without Borders, revealed that systematic assaults on health infrastructure have rendered access to medical care almost impossible. The report highlights that the few facilities still operating remain under constant threat.
“We call on all warring parties to cease violence against civilian health facilities and infrastructure, and to enable a large-scale humanitarian response,” said Michel-Olivier Lacharité, MSF’s head of emergency operations, during the report’s release on Thursday.
Save the Children also voiced deep concern, reporting a threefold increase in attacks on hospitals in the first half of this year. The organisation stated that more than 900 people were killed while seeking medical care or accompanying patients—60 times higher than the same period last year.
Sudan’s major hospitals, clinics, ambulances, and medical convoys have all come under deadly assault, worsening the crisis in a country where half the population depends on humanitarian aid.
In El Fasher, the capital of North Darfur, MSF warns that violence has made healthcare access nearly impossible for over one million people, including those in nearby displacement camps. As of April, only one hospital with surgical capabilities remained partially operational. Tragically, many patients and caregivers have been killed even within MSF-supported facilities.
Lacharité called on the international community to intensify efforts to address the worsening crisis:
“We urge UN member states, international actors, and those with influence over the warring factions—especially those providing military, economic, or diplomatic support—to use every tool available to prevent further atrocities. Protecting civilians must be at the core of all engagements with the conflicting parties.”
Last month, Sudan’s military accepted a UN-proposed one-week ceasefire in El Fasher to allow humanitarian aid access. However, the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) did not confirm their participation and instead resumed fighting with government forces in the city’s southern areas.
Sudan’s civil war began in April 2023 following a breakdown in relations between the national army and the RSF. Since then, around 40,000 people have been killed and nearly 13 million displaced, many fleeing to neighbouring countries. Those left behind face widespread food insecurity, the threat of famine, and outbreaks of diseases such as cholera, all worsened by the collapse of the country’s healthcare system.
