World Health Organization called for urgent action to address the escalating health and humanitarian crises in Sudan and appealed to the international community for increased financial aid.
Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the Director-General of WHO, stated on Friday on the “X” platform, “There is an urgent need to halt the escalation of conflict in Sudan, where humanitarian and health crises are worsening with the displacement of hundreds of thousands of people, most of them women and children.”
Tedros added, “While the World Health Organization, along with its partners, is responding to the acute health needs, particularly through controlling the spread of diseases and combating the threats of malnutrition, it also calls for increased financial support from the international community to meet the urgent health needs of the affected population.”
The UN official continued, “This includes strengthening the provision of basic health services to the most vulnerable groups in the affected states, where at least 70% of health facilities are out of service due to the conflict.”
The Sudanese Ministry of Health has warned that the transfer of the Rapid Support Forces’ military operations to the Gezira state, a central hub for medical supplies and services, portends a health disaster that could result in thousands of deaths.
The Ministry reiterated its warning that the fighting in Gezira state will exacerbate epidemics and increase their spread to an extent that could claim hundreds of thousands of lives. Since mid-April 2023, Sudan has witnessed a bloody war between the army and the Rapid Support Forces. Fleeing the fighting in Khartoum, over half a million Sudanese took refuge in Gezira state, but the Rapid Support Forces recently advanced to this state and attacked the town of Wad Madani on December 15, forcing more than 300,000 people to flee again.
UN estimates indicate that at least 7.1 million people have been displaced since the start of the ongoing conflict, with 1.5 million of them seeking refuge in neighboring countries. The war has claimed the lives of more than 12,000 people, according to a conservative estimate by the non-governmental organization “ACLED.”
