The World Health Organization (WHO) announced on Thursday that renewed fighting in Sudan has forced 2.2 million people to seek refuge in neighboring countries, amid “immense” health needs.
WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus emphasized that “most Sudanese are arriving in Chad after days of walking, multiple displacements, gunshot wounds, and surviving rape and sexual violence.”
In a statement published on the “X” platform on Thursday, he noted that “renewed fighting in Sudan is forcing 2.2 million people to seek refuge in neighboring countries amid immense health needs.”
Last week, WHO experts conducted a mission to Chad to assess the conditions of the displaced Sudanese, according to the same statement.
Ghebreyesus concluded by stating that “our priority is to establish systems that meet urgent medical needs while simultaneously strengthening the health system in Chad for the long term.”
Since mid-April 2023, the Sudanese army, led by Sovereign Council Chairman Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, and the Rapid Support Forces, led by Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo “Hemedti,” have been engaged in a conflict that has resulted in approximately 15,000 deaths and around 10 million displaced and refugees, according to the United Nations.
There have been increasing calls from the UN and international bodies to avert a humanitarian disaster in Sudan that could push millions to famine and death due to the food shortages caused by the conflict, which has spread to 12 of the country’s 18 states.
