According to the United Nations, large numbers of children are dying every month from malnutrition, measles and diarrhea, and other preventable diseases in Sudan, where armed conflict has displaced more than 5.3 million people from their homes. Between May 15 and September 14, at least 1,200 children under the age of five died from a deadly combination of a suspected measles outbreak and high malnutrition in nine camps for internally displaced people (IDPs) in Sudan's White Nile state alone.
On Tuesday, the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) and the World Health Organization (WHO) sounded the alarm on the worsening health situation caused by the Sudan crisis. There have also been reports of cholera, dengue, and malaria cases emerging in various parts of the country, sparking concerns about the looming threat of epidemics.
According to the UN agencies, over 3,100 suspected cases of measles were also reported in the same period and more than 500 suspected cases of cholera have been reported in other parts of the country, along with outbreaks of dengue and malaria, in a context of increased epidemic risk and challenges for epidemic control.
The UN warning comes as Sudan's health sector is teetering on the brink of collapse, crippled by insecurity, a severe lack of funding and essential resources.
"Health facilities are at breaking point, due to shortages of staff, life-saving medicine and critical equipment, exacerbating current outbreaks and causing unnecessary deaths," the WHO said.
The situation has brought health care in the country to its knees, despite enormous efforts by local clinics and aid agencies to continue to provide much-needed health services. Up to 80 percent of hospitals in conflict-affected states are non-functional. Some 3.4 million children under five are acutely malnourished, with close to 700,000 who are severely malnourished and 100,000 with medical complications.
“Local health workers, with the help of WHO and partners, are doing all they can, in very difficult conditions. But they desperately need the support of the international community to prevent further deaths and the spread of outbreaks,” said WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
“We call on donors to be generous and on the warring parties to protect health workers and access to health for all those who need it.”
Repeated attacks on healthcare facilities since the beginning of the conflict, including on personnel, patients and transportation of medical supplies, are also restricting the delivery of health services. Since the start of the war, WHO has verified 56 attacks on health care, with 11 deaths and 38 injuries.
The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) fears that many thousands of newborns will die in Sudan between now and the end of the year amid the cruel disregard for civilians and the relentless attacks on health and nutrition services.
“333,000 children will be born in Sudan between October and December. They and their mothers need skilled delivery care. However, in a country where millions are either trapped in war zones or displaced, and where there are grave shortages of medical supplies, such care is becoming less likely by the day”, said James Elder, UNICEF spokesperson, on Tuesday, having just returned from Sudan.
Those newborns and their mothers needed adequate care at a time when such care was becoming less likely by the day. Over 50,000 children required care for malnutrition, he noted.
“Nutrition services are equally devastated. Every month, 55,000 children require treatment for the most lethal form of malnutrition. And yet in Khartoum less than one in 50 nutrition centers is functional, in West Darfur it’s one in 10”, Elder said.
After five months, the conflict is not showing any signs of abating as fighting continued in hot spots - in Khartoum, Darfur and Kordofan regions, while many other states are burdened by millions of displaced people. According to the WHO, some 11 million in the country are in need of health assistance.
Ongoing-armed hostilities between Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), which started in April, have generated and exacerbated humanitarian crises in the African country. The conflict has taken an immense toll on Sudan's civilian population.
The United Nations says at least 5,000 people have been killed and more than 12,000 injured since fighting erupted between the rival generals five months ago. The true figure is likely to be far higher. Since the beginning of the current conflict, at least 435 children have reportedly been killed by violence and a further 500 have died from hunger.
Sudan plunged into conflict in mid-April, sparked by a power struggle between the SAF and the RSF. The conflict has displaced millions, and prompted millions more to seek refuge in neighboring countries in search of food, medicine and shelter.
Since April 15, when open hostilities broke out in Sudan’s capital Khartoum, more than 5.3 million people have been forced to flee their homes, more than a million of them as refugees in neighboring countries. 2 million children are among those displaced internally and across borders.
Many displaced people are now living in camps with limited access to humanitarian assistance, few educational opportunities for their children, and almost no psychosocial support to help them cope with their traumatic experiences. Inside Sudan, over 20 million people, 42 percent of Sudan’s population, now face acute food insecurity and 6 million are just a step away from famine.
Both warring factions, the SAF and RSF, have faced accusations of committing egregious acts of violence against civilians, including arbitrary detentions and killings.
"The conflict has paralyzed the economy, pushing millions to the brink of poverty," Volker TĂĽrk, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, said last week. "More than 7.4 million children are without safe drinking water and at least 700,000 are at risk of severe acute malnutrition."
In May, the UN appealed for $2.57 billion in humanitarian assistance for 18 million people in Sudan. As of September 20, the appeal has garnered $788 million, approximately 30 percent of the required funds, with the United States leading the list of donors with a contribution of $472.5 million.
However, the situation remains dire, with aid agencies estimating that more than 24 million Sudanese are in urgent need of humanitarian aid. Among them are 13 million children requiring lifesaving humanitarian support.
With no end in sight to the fighting, the humanitarian response is a lifeline for millions of people. Though large in scale, relief efforts remain inadequate and underfunded, and aid workers face major access challenges on the ground. Neighboring countries are also struggling to meet the needs of refugees fleeing the violence.
"The world has the means and the money to prevent every one of these deaths from measles or malnutrition," Filippo Grandi, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, said Tuesday.
"And yet dozens of children are dying every day — a result of this devastating conflict and a lack of global attention. We can prevent more deaths, but need money for the response, access to those in need, and above all, an end to the fighting," he said.
The UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, Martin Griffiths, said today that the crisis in Sudan was becoming more dangerous by the day, and needs were surging.
“Tireless efforts are made to get aid convoys across borders into Darfur and crossing conflict lines inside the country, but the process is tedious, bureaucratic and dangerous – a far cry from the unfettered and safe access to people that we should have. We are working hard to expand humanitarian access, but we need a political process to end the fighting and start building a new Sudan”, Griffiths said.
Further information
Full text: UNHCR, WHO warn of deteriorating health conditions as 1,200 children die of suspected measles, malnutrition in Sudan, UNHCR, WHO joint press release, published September 19, 2023
https://www.unhcr.org/news/press-releases/unhcr-who-warn-deteriorating-health-conditions-1-200-children-die-suspected
Full text: Tens of thousands of Sudanese children on the brink of death before the year ends, UNICEF statement, published on September 19, 2023
https://www.unicef.org/press-releases/tens-thousands-sudanese-children-brink-death-year-ends