Sudan’s Health Crisis Deepens Amid Three Years of Conflict

Three years of war in Sudan have devastated essential services, leaving the country facing the world’s largest humanitarian crisis, according to the World Health Organisation’s representative in the country.

Dr Shible Sahbani, WHO Representative in Sudan, reported that 41 percent of Sudan’s population—approximately 21 million people—still require urgent health assistance for survival. Speaking at a UN press conference in Geneva on April 10, Dr Sahbani highlighted the scale of displacement, noting that despite recent returns, 13.6 million people remain displaced within Sudan or in neighbouring countries.

The conflict, which began on April 15, 2023, between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the Rapid Support Forces, has severely impacted healthcare infrastructure. WHO has verified 217 attacks on health care facilities since the war began, resulting in 2,052 deaths and 810 injuries. In the past three months alone, 16 attacks have occurred, leading to 194 deaths and 320 injuries.

Hospitals across the country are operating at less-than-optimal capacity, with medical warehouses reduced to skeletal structures. While fighting has subsided in Khartoum and Al Jazirah, it has intensified in Darfur and Kordofan, where populations face extreme limitations in accessing basic services, particularly healthcare.

The conflict has triggered widespread disease outbreaks, including malaria, dengue, measles, polio, hepatitis E, and diphtheria across several states. Since April 2023, WHO has maintained continuity of health services, treating over 4.1 million people in hospitals, primary health care facilities, and mobile clinics.

The organisation’s vaccination efforts have reached millions: 24.5 million people received oral cholera vaccines, more than 13 million children received measles and rubella vaccines, over 6 million children received polio vaccines, and 2.8 million received diphtheria vaccines. Additionally, 118,000 severely acute malnourished children with medical complications received treatment at stabilisation centres, and two cholera outbreaks were successfully contained.

The crisis unfolds against the backdrop of the United States’ withdrawal from WHO in January 2026, leaving the UN agency without one of its largest donors. The Trump administration had accused WHO of mishandling the COVID-19 pandemic, a claim rejected by WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, who warned that the withdrawal makes both the United States and the world less safe.