The World Health Organization says it has verified 201 attacks on health care facilities across Sudan since the outbreak of the conflict in April 2023, with the violence resulting in 1,858 deaths and 490 injuries.
In a statement reported by media, the organisation said the repeated targeting of medical facilities has severely disrupted access to life saving services and placed health workers, patients and service providers in constant danger.
The WHO said the war has left more than 20 million people in need of health assistance, while around 21 million are facing severe food insecurity. It added that an estimated 33.7 million people across Sudan will require humanitarian assistance this year, after nearly three years of sustained violence, restricted access and declining funding.
According to the organisation, Sudan’s health system has been devastated by ongoing fighting, attacks on medical infrastructure, mass displacement, shortages of essential medicines, a lack of health personnel and chronic underfunding.
Despite efforts by the WHO and its partners to restore health services, more than a third of health facilities, about 37 percent, remain out of service, depriving millions of people of essential and life saving care.
WHO’s representative in Sudan, Shibl Sahbani, said the conflict has pushed the health system to the brink of collapse, leaving millions vulnerable to disease, hunger and the absence of basic services.
He said the number of displaced people is estimated at 13.6 million, warning that worsening living conditions, overcrowded displacement sites, disruptions to health, water and sanitation services, and the collapse of routine immunisation programmes are fuelling disease outbreaks.
Sahbani added that the WHO is supporting responses to outbreaks of cholera, dengue fever, malaria and measles. Cholera has been reported in all 18 states, dengue fever in 14 states and malaria in 16 states, while access to preventive and curative health care remains limited, especially for chronic illnesses and acute malnutrition.
Since the conflict began, the WHO has delivered 3,378 metric tonnes of medicines and medical supplies, valued at nearly 40 million dollars, to 48 health partners for life saving operations.
The organisation said more than 3.3 million people have received health services through WHO supported hospitals, primary health centres and mobile clinics, while over 112,400 children suffering from severe acute malnutrition with medical complications have been treated at emergency nutrition centres.
