Doctors have warned of a looming health crisis in Sudan, where a civil war has raged for over 28 months
Thousands of people in Sudan’s war-ravaged North Darfur are facing the risk of death due to a critical shortage of essential and life-saving medicines, an association of doctors in the African country has warned.
The Sudan Doctors Network said in a statement on Tuesday that hospitals in El Fasher lack medical supplies and expressed “deep concern” over the worsening health crisis in the North Darfur capital.
“This crisis is compounded by the rising number of illnesses and injuries and the inability of medical personnel to adequately respond to patients’ needs,” it stated.
Sudan plunged into civil war in April 2023, when fighting broke out in the capital, Khartoum, between the state army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) after months of tensions over control of the country. It now faces what the UN has called the world’s worst humanitarian crisis, with thousands killed and millions displaced.
In a joint statement on Wednesday, Sudan peace negotiators including Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Switzerland, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), the US, the African Union, and the UN urged the warring parties to lift restrictions, particularly in North Darfur and Kordofan, and allow humanitarian actors access to deliver aid.
On Thursday, the Sudan Doctors Network, which has been tracking the 28-month conflict, accused the RSF of killing nine civilians, including five children and four women, in a “deliberate” bombing of a camp for displaced people in El Fasher. The assault on the Abu Shouk facility on Wednesday night left 18 others injured, the group said.
Earlier, the network said the RSF and allied militias had ambushed al-Ghabshan al-Maramrah village, looting and burning several houses and the only health center. At least seven people were killed and 13 others wounded in Tuesday’s attack.
“This heinous crime is part of a continuous pattern of systematic killings and forced cleansing perpetrated by the RSF against civilians in areas under its control,” it stated.
The Sudanese army has alleged that foreign mercenaries, including fighters from Colombia, are backing the RSF with sponsorship from the UAE. The Emirati government has rejected the accusations as baseless.
