2023-10-14 22:24:00
Six months into the war in Sudan, people’s lives are still in danger from shelling and shooting, both directly and indirectly. Sudanese health workers and volunteers are struggling to respond to people’s medical needs and the country’s health system is on the brink of collapse, says Doctors Without Borders (MSF), whose teams note a shameful absence of humanitarian organizations working in the country. In those areas where assistance is provided, the response is insufficient for the immense needs of the people, states MSF, calling for an immediate increase in humanitarian efforts.
“The Sudan crisis epitomizes a catastrophic failure of humanity, marked by the failure of parties to the conflict to protect civilians or facilitate essential humanitarian access, and by the appalling negligence and shortcomings of international organizations to support “It is time to provide an adequate response,” says Dr. Christos Christou, international president of MSF. “Without an immediate and substantial escalation of the humanitarian response, what we are witnessing now will be the beginning of an even greater tragedy that is yet to unfold, meaning more people will continue to die unnecessarily.”
Across Sudan, the fragile health system is on the brink of collapse; Emergency rooms are congested and many hospitals have closed completely. In the capital, Khartoum, MSF medical teams are witnessing one of the most intense urban conflicts currently taking place around the world. Large numbers of people arrive at hospitals with life-threatening injuries, often leaving medical staff with no choice but to amputate.
“In both Khartoum and Darfur, many patients arrive seriously injured, to the point of needing multiple rounds of surgery,” says MSF surgeon Shazeer Majeed. “In September alone, on more than seven occasions, the hospitals where MSF operates received a significant influx of injured people following bombings, airstrikes and explosions.”
Even people who are not directly affected by violence suffer the indirect effects of war. There is a chronic shortage of medicines throughout Sudan. Pharmacies have run out of supplies or raised their prices, making many medications unaffordable for those who need them. As a result, patients with chronic diseases suffer serious complications and sometimes die.
“We are seeing critical cases arriving at the hospital due to a lack of medicines, especially patients with diseases such as diabetes,” explains Frauke Ossig, MSF head of mission. “When they come to us, there is often very little we can do.”
Even in more easily accessible places, millions of displaced people live in overwhelmed camps and makeshift sites such as schools, having been displaced from their homes by violence. People in these places, including children, are dying from preventable diseases, such as malaria and measles, due to a shameful lack of humanitarian response.
In Khartoum, as in many camps, water systems have been destroyed or are inadequate for people’s needs, increasing the risk of cholera emerging and making it more difficult to address suspected cases of cholera in the midst of war. . MSF teams are supporting the Ministry of Health in many places to ensure that health personnel are prepared to respond to possible outbreaks of this disease.
Doctors Without Borders’ own humanitarian response is being hampered by considerable bureaucratic and administrative obstacles imposed by the Sudanese authorities. These include restrictions on staff movements, denials of travel permits, delays in the delivery of medical supplies and bans on specific supplies, such as surgical supplies. In the south of Khartoum, one of the hospitals supported by MSF has only one week’s worth of essential supplies left to provide emergency trauma care to injured patients. Once these supplies run out, MSF teams will no longer be able to provide this care.
“All supplies arriving at healthcare centers are quickly depleted, causing serious health consequences and even deaths,” says Claire Nicolet, MSF deputy emergency director. “We desperately need medical and surgical equipment not only for trauma care, but also for obstetric surgeries, as we see many pregnant women in life-threatening conditions.”
With no end to the war in sight, Doctors Without Borders calls for a substantial increase in efforts to provide humanitarian aid, for the safeguarding of medical, humanitarian and civilian workers, for the removal of administrative blockades on personnel and supplies and humanitarian aid, and allowing people unhindered access to aid.
“Sudan’s health system is on the brink of collapse and without urgent action, the most vulnerable people will continue to bear the brunt of the violence, leading to more preventable deaths,” says MSF Head of Mission Frauke Ossig. .
MSF’s response in Sudan
MSF has been present in Sudan since 1979. Currently, MSF teams work in 10 states: Khartoum, Al-Jazeera, White Nile, Blue Nile, River Nile, Al Gedaref, Western Darfur, North Darfur, Central Darfur and South Darfur. MSF teams also provide assistance to refugees and returnees across Sudan’s borders in South Sudan, Central African Republic and Chad. MSF teams in Sudan provide emergency treatment, perform surgeries, run mobile clinics for displaced people, treat communicable and non-communicable diseases, provide maternal and pediatric health care, including safe deliveries, develop water and sanitation services, and donate medicines and medical supplies to health centers. They also provide incentive payments, training and logistical support to Ministry of Health personnel. MSF also continues some of the medical activities it carried out before the start of the conflict. Since the start of the war, MSF teams at the Bashair hospital in Khartoum have performed more than 1,500 surgical interventions, 93 percent of them in patients with injuries related to violence. MSF staff at the Bashair hospital have also attended to more than 300 maternity consultations. Since they began working at the Turkish Hospital in Khartoum in June, MSF teams have treated more than 8,600 people in the maternity ward. emergencies (including almost 1,500 boys and girls, and more than 1,900 adult patients, including maternity cases), have performed 122 general and orthopedic surgeries, and 166 emergency cesarean sections/obstetric surgeries. Since August, MSF staff have helped bring almost 300 babies into the world. Over the past six months, MSF teams have been supporting the Ministry of Health in Omdurman, Khartoum State, which has received more than 10,000 admissions. of emergency. In Darfur, MSF has received more than 8,500 emergency admissions. MSF teams have carried out more than 16,000 consultations in Zamzam camp, North Darfur state, and have received more than 1,000 maternity and pediatric admissions in Um Duwwan Ban, Khartoum state. At the Alban Jadeed hospital in Khartoum, MSF teams have attended more than 5,000 consultations, almost a fifth of them emergency cases. In White Nile state, MSF teams have carried out more than 50 thousand consultations. In the state of Al-Jazeera, MSF teams have carried out more than 25 thousand consultations. In the last six months, MSF teams across Sudan have provided more than 10,000 mental health consultations. MSF’s response in Sudan has a budget of €76 million for 2023. MSF currently has 1,145 employees. Sudanese and 57 internationals in Sudan. MSF is also paying incentives to 1,358 employees of the Ministry of Health.
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