Sudan’s Collapsing Healthcare System as a Global Emergency

Sudan’s healthcare system is facing an unprecedented collapse amid a brutal civil conflict that began in April 2023. Now entering its third year, the war has devastated the country’s health infrastructure, displaced millions, and triggered widespread disease outbreaks and malnutrition. This crisis has escalated into a global emergency, with over half the population requiring urgent health assistance. This analysis explores the scale, causes, and consequences of Sudan’s healthcare collapse, supported by recent statistics and reports from the World Health Organization (WHO), Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), UNICEF, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), and other humanitarian actors.

Scale of the Crisis: Over Half the Population in Need

As of early 2025, Sudan’s health crisis affects an estimated 30.4 million people—more than half of the country’s 60 million population—who require humanitarian assistance, including 16 million children. The conflict has produced the world’s largest and fastest-growing displacement crisis, with approximately 12.8 million people forcibly displaced internally or as refugees. This mass displacement has overwhelmed health systems in both conflict-affected and relatively safer regions.

The health infrastructure has been decimated: roughly 70–80% of health facilities in conflict zones are non-operational or severely under-resourced. In Khartoum, Sudan’s capital, nearly 100 public and private hospitals have closed, and those remaining open function at minimal capacity. Across the country, hospitals are overcrowded, with reports of three or four patients sharing a single bed and many critically ill patients turned away due to lack of space and resources.

Causes of Healthcare Collapse

Several interrelated factors have driven the collapse:

• Attacks on Healthcare Facilities and Personnel: Since April 2023, WHO has verified over 156 attacks on health facilities, resulting in 318 deaths and 273 injuries among health workers. These attacks include bombings, looting, and obstruction of ambulances, violating international humanitarian law and severely limiting service delivery.
• Displacement and Overcrowding: The massive influx of displaced populations into safer areas such as Gedaref and Blue Nile states has overwhelmed local health services. These regions now host millions of displaced people with chronic illnesses and malnutrition, further straining limited resources.
• Supply Chain Disruptions: Looting, economic collapse, and blockades have disrupted the supply of medicines, vaccines, and medical equipment. Many health workers have fled due to insecurity or remain unpaid, exacerbating staff shortages.
• Funding Shortfalls: WHO’s 2025 health response plan for Sudan is only 20% funded, with an urgent need for $135 million to maintain essential services. Cuts in international aid have further diminished humanitarian capacity.

Public Health Consequences: Disease Outbreaks, Malnutrition, and Mortality

The healthcare collapse has precipitated multiple public health emergencies:

• Disease Outbreaks: Sudan is battling simultaneous outbreaks of cholera, dengue fever, malaria, measles, and other infectious diseases. Between August 2024 and May 2025, over 60,000 cholera cases and more than 1,600 deaths were reported. Cholera alone has claimed 1,567 lives as of April 2025. Malaria remains endemic, with Sudan accounting for 41% of all malaria cases and 49% of malaria-related deaths in the region, averaging 10,000 cases and 21 deaths daily.
• Malnutrition and Famine: Malnutrition rates are among the highest globally. Famine has been confirmed in five regions, with 17 more at risk amid worsening food insecurity. Approximately 24.6 million people face acute food insecurity, including 770,000 children under five suffering from severe acute malnutrition. Nearly 75,000 severely malnourished children have received treatment at stabilization centers, but many more remain untreated.
• Maternal and Infant Mortality: The collapse of maternal health services has led to soaring maternal and infant mortality rates. Pregnant women lack access to prenatal and emergency obstetric care, with 35% of affected populations being women requiring reproductive health services.
• Mental Health and Gender-Based Violence: The conflict has increased mental health needs and cases of gender-based violence, especially among displaced women and girls. Psychosocial support services are expanding but remain insufficient.

Humanitarian Response Efforts

Despite overwhelming challenges, humanitarian organizations have made significant efforts:

• WHO-supported health services have treated over 1 million patients and sustained 52 hospitals across Sudan’s 18 states since the conflict began.
• Vaccination campaigns have immunized millions of children against polio, measles, rubella, and cholera, with over 11.5 million children vaccinated for polio and measles and 12.8 million receiving cholera vaccines.
• The Global Fund continues to supply nearly all HIV, tuberculosis, and malaria medicines in Sudan and recently delivered essential supplies to Darfur despite access challenges.
• The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has supported 88 hospitals and treated over 22,000 conflict-wounded patients since 2023.
• The Sudan Health Assistance and Response in Emergencies (SHARE) project, a partnership between WHO, the World Bank, Sudan’s Ministry of Health, and UNICEF, aims to restore hospital and primary healthcare functionality.

However, insecurity, repeated attacks, restricted humanitarian access, and funding shortages severely limit the scale and effectiveness of these responses.

Personal and Community Impact

The collapse of healthcare has devastating consequences for individuals and communities:

• Hospitals and clinics are overcrowded, understaffed, and lack essential medicines and equipment.
• Many healthcare workers have fled or been killed; over 120 health workers have died since the conflict began.
• Patients suffer from treatable conditions due to lack of care; many critically ill individuals are turned away or forced to travel long distances for medical attention.
• Displaced populations live in overcrowded, unsanitary conditions, increasing vulnerability to disease outbreaks and malnutrition.
• Women and children face heightened risks from lack of reproductive health services and malnutrition.

Urgency and Outlook

As Sudan enters the rainy season, the health risks are expected to multiply. Flooding will worsen waterborne diseases and further restrict access to affected populations. Without urgent and increased funding, protection of health workers, and safe humanitarian access, the healthcare system risks total collapse, with catastrophic consequences for millions.

Dr. Hanan Balkhy, WHO Regional Director for the Eastern Mediterranean, stated: “Sudan’s brave health workers are achieving the impossible with almost nothing. They need protection, safe access and the tools to save lives. Time is running out.”

Sudan’s healthcare system is in freefall, driven by conflict, displacement, attacks on health infrastructure, and resource shortages. The resulting public health emergencies—disease outbreaks, malnutrition, and soaring mortality—constitute a global humanitarian emergency. Despite heroic efforts by WHO, ICRC, MSF, UNICEF, and others, the scale of need far exceeds available resources and access.

Immediate international attention, increased funding, protection of health workers and facilities, and unhindered humanitarian access are essential to prevent further loss of life and alleviate suffering for millions of Sudanese. The crisis is a stark reminder of the devastating human cost of protracted conflict and the urgent need for peace and stability in Sudan.