MSF says 33 million people need medical help in Sudan, but aid money is falling

The war in Sudan has left more than 33 million people who need medical help. But the money to help them is falling. Doctors Without Borders, also called MSF, says the health system is close to breaking down. In central Darfur, a region in Sudan, 45 health centres stopped getting funding in May alone.

The war started in April 2023 between Sudan's army and an armed group called the Rapid Support Forces. Many aid groups received money from USAID, the United States' main aid agency. But the United States closed USAID last year, so its money for these groups ended in June. European governments have also cut their aid. MSF says the United Nations' $2.87 billion plan for Sudan is only 41 percent funded.

Because this money is missing, clinics are closing. At the Tanedba camp in Gedaref state, about 18,400 people have left their homes because of the war and now live there. The parts of the hospital for mothers and for operations closed after an aid group left in June. MSF now runs an emergency room there, but pregnant women who need an operation must travel three hours to the nearest city. In the nearby Um Rakuba camp, the number of aid groups has fallen from 35 in 2021 to fewer than 10.

MSF's own work in Sudan is paid for by private donations, but it cannot do the work of the whole system. 'If support does not increase, more patients will face longer journeys, fewer treatment options and greater risk of arriving too late for care,' said Liz Harding, who speaks for MSF in the United Kingdom.