In Sudan, Paediatric Needs Are Increasing

Nearly two years after the outbreak of conflict in Sudan, EMERGENCY continues its paediatric activities in the country amid an intensifying war and the population’s increasing needs.

The hardest hit group is children: out of the almost 25 million people in need of humanitarian aid in Sudan, 14 million are children.

We run three paediatric Centres in the country, in Khartoum, Port Sudan and Nyala (South Darfur), where children face ever-increasing challenges and have immense needs.

In Khartoum, fighting between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and Rapid Support Forces (RSF) has been intensifying for weeks for control of the city, particularly after SAF recaptured nearby Wad Madani.

The effects of the escalating conflict are directly impacting children attending our clinics:

We are seeing children in increasingly serious conditions, and those who should be transferred for hospitalisation no longer have the chance, due to the progressive closure of paediatric wards in the city and surrounding areas. Our patients are severely malnourished. Many have severe gastroenteritis due to the ingestion of contaminated water, or respiratory diseases due to overnight temperatures. In the midst of unstable sanitary conditions and the absence of sewers, malaria is also on the rise.”

Carola Buscemi, EMERGENCY’s paediatrician in Khartoum

In Khartoum state, more than 1.5 million people are being affected by a severe crisis in the supply of drinking water.

Across the country, some 3.2 million children under the age of five are expected to suffer from acute malnutrition in 2025. Millions of children have also been forcibly displaced from their homes: out of more than 12 million people internally displaced in Sudan, 60% are minors and 40% are children aged 0 to 11 years old.

The effects of war and displacement are also impacting people’s mental wellbeing.

Since the start of war, over 100 attacks have been recorded on health facilities, 80% of which are only partially functional. With violence increasing, especially in the capital, there is also a risk that we will no longer have sufficient supplies of medicines and essential goods.

At the moment, we are relying on a supply of medicines that will last a few weeks. For paediatric patients in particular, without the correct treatments or the ability to refer them to other facilities, the situation is particularly intense. If the road to Khartoum does not reopen to humanitarian convoys soon, there will be an issue continuing activities in the capital.”

Matteo D’Alonzo, director of EMERGENCY’s Centre in Khartoum

Nyala, South Darfur, also continues to be an epicentre of fighting, with air strikes recorded daily.

EMERGENCY has restarted outpatient activities at its Paediatric Centre in Nyala, after months of reduced activities following the looting of the clinic in October 2023.

After the clinic had been looted and the staff arrested and then released, our Sudanese colleagues worked to reorganise the Centre and restart activities bit by bit. After more than a year, we have finally managed to restart outpatient paediatric activities. The needs of the paediatric population in this city, who have been affected by constant air strikes throughout these years of war, remain huge. We have seen an increase in malnourishment in children in the 5-14 age group, and of anaemia. Both conditions are closely linked to diet. It is hard to eat here, everything is very expensive, and the city is practically a ghost town. There are no services left.”

Laura Ena, EMERGENCY’s Medical Coordinator in Nyala

Meanwhile, the population of Port Sudan has increased exponentially as many displaced people flee east toward the city. Services are unable to meet the population’s needs, while difficult living conditions periodically lead to the outbreak of diseases like cholera, risking epidemics.

Likewise, greater numbers of children need care. Since the outbreak of war, daily arrivals have increased at our Paediatric Centre in the city.

We see an average of 90 children a day. Given the conditions that displaced people are living in, whether in camps or overcrowded housing, one of the risks we see most often is the spread of epidemics like cholera. Among the services we offer are follow-up visits for sickle cell anaemia, as well as ante- and post-natal care for mothers and children, visits that we can also perform in the patients’ homes. It is essential to protect the health of newborn children. By doing so, we protect their rights, their future and the future of the country.”

Stoja Djuric, EMERGENCY’s Medical Coordinator in Port Sudan

The conflict in Sudan is currently considered the worst displacement crisis in the world. 12 million people are internally displaced. 80% have fled Khartoum, the capital, since 15 April 2023, the place most affected by armed clashes.

Sudan represents one of the most serious ongoing humanitarian crises, yet nevertheless remains largely invisible to the rest of the world: there will be 30.4 million Sudanese in need of humanitarian aid in 2025, about two-thirds of the entire country.

We have a duty to stand by the population.