Khartoum, Sudan - Sudan's healthcare system is on the brink of collapse as cuts to aid funding force clinics and outpatient facilities to close across the war-torn country, Doctors Without Borders (MSF) said.
The organization appealed to world leaders attending the United Nations General Assembly to secure funding for essential healthcare, noting that the $2.87 billion UN humanitarian plan for Sudan was only 41% funded.
The war is driving up needs in Sudan, while funding cuts are limiting the aid that can be provided, said Muhammad Ibrahim, MSF's country coordinator in Sudan.
He said MSF's work was privately funded. Still, he warned that when funding for other health services dried up, clinics closed, leaving patients with fewer places to seek care and putting additional pressure on remaining facilities, including those run by MSF.
In Tawila in North Darfur, healthcare provision for up to 600,000 displaced people is critical, MSF said. The organization runs the region's only 200-bed hospital and is the only organization able to carry out large-scale epidemic-control measures, it said. Cases of malaria and malnutrition were already rising ahead of the peak of the rainy season, MSF said.
Sudan has been embroiled in a power struggle since April 2023 between the army of de facto leader Abdel-Fattah al-Burhan and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) led by Mohamed Hamdan Daglo.
Human rights groups have accused both sides of abuses against civilians, while the RSF has in particular been accused of systematic sexual violence and massacres targeting non-Arab communities in Darfur.
The conflict has created the world's largest humanitarian crisis, according to the United Nations. More than 11 million people have been displaced within Sudan or fled to neighboring countries.
A UN expert report has said foreign support, including arms supplies and mercenaries, is fueling the conflict. It singled out the United Arab Emirates in particular.