Since Saturday 15 April, intense fighting has been taking place between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF - the military forces of the Republic of the Sudan) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF – a powerful paramilitary group) in the capital Khartoum and other parts of Sudan
Many people, including healthcare workers, are currently trapped and unable to move or reach health facilities due to the intensity of the conflict.
Since Saturday 15 April 2023, intense fighting has been taking place between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in Khartoum and other parts of Sudan. Many people, including healthcare workers, are currently trapped.
As of 4 May, Médecins Sans Frontières / Doctors Without Borders (MSF), received 4427 wounded people at South Hospital – the hospital we support in El Fasher. There have been 89 deaths.
Hospitals are overstretched, and running out of supplies, water, electricity and fuel for generators.
Staff are exhausted and working non-stop, while off duty medical staff are unable to reach medical facilities due to intense fighting and insecurity.
Some people remain trapped, and others are fleeing to safer areas of the country or across borders. Pressure on hospitals is intense and many face shortages. Some staff are unable to get to the facilities because the fighting is too intense and/or they have been damaged in the fighting. Many people are cut off from medical care at a time when they need it most.
Due to the ongoing violence and fear that they will be risking their safety, many cannot reach any of the small number of health facilities that are still functional and open. However, MSF has been able to donate medical supplies to five health facilities in Khartoum since Sunday 23 April, and we are in contact with hospitals and Sudanese medical associations trying to supply additional hospitals and facilities within the capital – but the fighting is continuing to make this extremely dangerous.
As things stand, the hospital is rapidly running out of medical supplies to treat survivors. It is running out of blood for transfusions. Fuel supplies for the hospital generator are also running low. It’s important to mention that, without those vital supplies, there will be further loss of lives.
MSF supported facilities continue to provide medical care in Kreinik, West Darfur, in Rokero, Central Darfur, in Um Rakuba and Tinedba, Al-Gedaref state and in Damazin in Blue Nile State.
Before the escalation of violence on 15 April 2023, MSF worked in 12 states of the country and ran many different activities, including primary and secondary healthcare, support to hospitals and other health facilities, mobile clinics, outpatient and inpatient nutrition activities, reproductive and mental health care, vaccination campaigns, health promotion and WASH activities. We adapted and launched emergency responses in other areas to address the most acute humanitarian and medical needs in an impartial manner and to the best of our abilities.
We remain committed to providing much needed healthcare to people in Sudan, especially during these challenging moments.
In Rokero, Central Darfur state, locally hired MSF staff and MoH staff continue to provide medical assistance. The supplies they have are likely to last for another two to three months. We currently do not have the option to refer patients for higher levels of treatment due to the ongoing fighting, either because hospitals are no longer functional, or roads are too insecure.
In Nyala, South Darfur, we experienced the intrusion and looting of supplies in our compound and warehouse, which meant we suspended all our activities.
In the capital Khartoum, a surgical team is working in a hospital in south Khartoum, alongside Sudanese medical staff and volunteers, providing emergency and surgical care. We’re now running 24/7 operations. We have our operating theatre, post-op, we’ve built up an intensive care unit. And we’re working, day-by-day, to increase the quality of care. The team performed more than 400 surgical procedures’ since they started working in the Bashair Teaching Hospital in Khartoum on 9 May. MSF is working in collaboration with community volunteers – doctors and nurses but also young people from the area and the community who made a decision to try to restart this hospital after it had closed. Staff had left for their own safety.
While MSF has been able to secure enough medical supplies to work in the Bashair Teaching Hospital for now, drawing on pre-positioned stocks in Khartoum and some donations from others, stocks will run out at some point. A shipment of medical and other supplies landed in Port Sudan on 16 May 2023 and will be moved to Khartoum and another area to the south, Wad Madani, where teams are running mobile clinics for displaced people.
In Wad Madani the capital of Al-Jazeera state, are running mobile clinics for people who have been displaced from Khartoum and supporting health facilities dealing with the influx of patients. We have also distributed hygiene and non-food items and food staples in Wad Madani, prioritising the most vulnerable who are currently sheltering in public buildings, and carrying out WASH activities.
In Port Sudan, the capital of Red Sea state, MSF started implementing some water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) activities in IDP and other collective sites. We are desludging latrines, trucking water, and distributing hygiene items. We have also provided training at local emergency room on MCP and emergency triage.
In El-Damazin in Blue Nile State, our team continues to support the El-Damazin hospital, including the malnutrition programme, and to run mobile clinics.
Hundreds of thousands are fleeing to safer areas. People face shortages of food and drinking water, forcing them to be on the move to try to meet their basic needs.
We are currently working at the border with Sudan, in collaboration with health authorities, to run mobile clinics, vaccination, malnutrition screening, referrals and other activities in temporary refugee camps in places like Koufroun, Borota and Goungour in Ouaddaï province. Our teams continue to support Adre hospital and three health centres, where we’ve been working since 2021, and in addition we have recently strengthened surgical capacities to help stabilize and treat the wounded. We refer the most severe cases to Abeche.
We are running mobile clinics in Sila province, in the refugee reception sites of Mogororo and Anderessa, only 500 metres from the border with Sudan, and supporting the health centre in the areas of Daguessa. Our teams provide medical care, including sexual reproductive healthcare, malnutrition screening for children under the age of 5, as well as referrals to secondary health care and for psychosocial support.
An MSF team is assessing needs in Vakaga province bordering Sudan, in response to an influx of refugees/returnees from Sudan.
MSF teams are assessing needs of South Sudanese returnees and refugees and a possible response in Aweil and Upper Nile states bordering Sudan
