Sudan’s already weakened healthcare system is facing further deterioration as international funding reductions force medical facilities to close, Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) has warned.
The medical charity said numerous humanitarian groups have been unable to secure replacement financing after the United States, previously Sudan’s biggest aid contributor, shut down USAID, its principal foreign assistance agency, last year.
MSF has appealed to international leaders attending the United Nations General Assembly in New York to urgently respond to the worsening situation.
Sudan has been engulfed in conflict since April 2023, when fighting broke out between the national army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF).
The conflict has created a vast humanitarian emergency, leaving more than 33 million people in need of healthcare.
MSF said funding previously provided through USAID to several organisations ended in June, while European countries were simultaneously scaling back overseas assistance.
Figures from the Paris-based Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) indicate that global development aid declined by 21.3% in 2025 compared with the previous year.
Muhammad Ibrahim, MSF’s head of mission in Sudan, said the growing needs caused by the war were coinciding with a shrinking humanitarian response.
He explained that although MSF’s operations are financed privately, the closure of other health centres was increasing the burden on the organisation’s remaining facilities.
The funding crisis has also forced patients to travel considerable distances, often through unsafe areas, to obtain treatment.
Sebastián Traficante, MSF’s emergency co-ordinator in western Darfur, said many patients were reaching hospitals after lengthy and costly journeys, often in worse medical condition, only to find that facilities were already overcrowded.
MSF reported that between January and April 2026, admissions at the facilities it supports in central Darfur increased by 22.5% compared with the corresponding period in 2025.
The charity said 45 healthcare centres in the region had lost financial support by May.
The withdrawal of humanitarian organisations has placed additional pressure on hospitals that remain operational, with shortages of medicines and declining capacity making it increasingly difficult for them to provide adequate care.
Tanedba camp in Gedaref state was cited as an example.
The settlement accommodates about 18,400 displaced people, but its maternity and surgical units were closed after a humanitarian organisation withdrew in June.
MSF has since established an emergency department at the camp. However, women requiring caesarean sections or other surgical procedures must travel approximately three hours to reach the nearest urban centre.
The situation is similarly concerning at Um Rakuba camp in Gedaref, where the number of aid organisations has fallen from 35 in 2021 to fewer than 10.
The camp is currently home to about 17,000 displaced people, predominantly women and children.
MSF’s UK humanitarian representative, Liz Harding, warned that without additional assistance, vulnerable people would face increasingly distant journeys, limited medical choices and a higher possibility of reaching hospitals too late.
The funding shortage comes amid continued violence against medical personnel and facilities.
MSF said 1,620 people were killed in attacks on healthcare facilities in Sudan during 2025, representing 82% of deaths recorded worldwide from such attacks that year.
The United Nations estimates that more than 19.5 million Sudanese are enduring severe food shortages classified as crisis-level food insecurity, while over five million are experiencing emergency levels of hunger.
There is also little indication that the conflict is nearing an end, despite plans for international diplomats to travel to Khartoum for discussions focused on resolving the civil war.
Meanwhile, at least 11 people were reportedly killed on Tuesday in a drone strike on Umm Ruwaba, an army-held town in North Kordofan state.
Medical sources said the attack hit a busy courtyard within a court compound, adding to concerns over the continuing danger faced by civilians amid the conflict.
By: Magdalene Agyeiwaa Sarpong