Fighting in Sudan: Impact on EMERGENCY’s Facilities Across the Country

On the morning of 15 April 2023, war began in Khartoum.

Beginning in the capital, armed clashes broke out between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF). Fighting has since spread throughout the country, displacing millions.

EMERGENCY immediately reshaped its activities in Sudan to continue guaranteeing adequate paediatric and cardiac care. This commitment has led us to open new facilities in and scale up activities at existing hospitals to ensure continuous healthcare for our patients, most of whom are internally displaced.

We have faced many obstacles, both direct and indirect consequences of the war: shortages of blood and its components, a scarcity of medicines and fuel, an inability to ensure staff turnover due to difficulties in procuring visas, the loss of several staff members who have fled the country in search of safety, the looting of our Paediatric Centre in Nyala.

Due to fighting in the area, we were also forced to indefinitely close the Paediatric Centre in Mayo, on the outskirts of Khartoum. Since March 2024, with the opening of the new Paediatric Outpatient Clinic in the Salam complex, we have resumed paediatric activities in the capital.

Between August and November 2023, the Salam complex also housed a Centre for Emergency and Trauma Surgery, where we treated around 580 people – giving priority to women and children, among the most vulnerable groups directly exposed to the conflict.

For the many cardiac surgery patients who require regular follow-ups and medications for life following surgery, we set up a network of Cardiology Outpatient Clinics in Sudan: “satellite clinics” of the Salam Centre that enable access to treatment for those who, because of the war, cannot reach the capital.