SUDAN – As services such as power, water, and communication continue to deteriorate, morgues across the country are at a breaking point, leading to thousands of corpses left to decompose on streets in Khartoum, reports Save the Children.
This inability to sufficiently store the bodies and to timely dispose of them is putting families and children at increasing risk of diseases, added Save the Children.
Khartoum and many other towns and cities of war-torn Sudan are suffering prolonged power and communications blackouts since the conflict erupted in April, with no resolution yet to be brokered.
Consequently, the shortages have left the city’s morgues without refrigeration, leaving bodies to decompose in the heat, and causing the risk of major disease outbreaks in the city.
Additionally, there are no medical staff left at the morgues, leaving the bodies exposed and untreated, according to the Sudanese Doctors Syndicate.
Save the Children also reports that out of 89 main hospitals in the capital and states, 71 are out of service, with the remainder operating at partial capacity.
Unfortunately, Médecins Sans Frontières reports that some health facilities are being occupied by armed groups, taking life-saving treatment from millions of children and their families, with at least 53 attacks on health care resulting in 11 deaths since April.
A horrifying combination of rising numbers of corpses, severe water shortages, non-functioning hygiene and sanitation services, and lack of water treatment options are also prompting fears of a cholera outbreak in the city.
The absence of a functioning public health laboratory , through which a cholera outbreak would normally be reported, makes it difficult to assess the state of the crisis, however Khartoum typically experiences cholera outbreaks during the annual rainy season, which began in June.
Dr. Bashir Kamal Eldin Hamid, Save the Children’s Health and Nutrition Director, said, “The healthcare system in Sudan is hanging by a thread. As casualties increase, hospitals are closing, completely emptied of medicines and doctors, and looted of any remaining supplies.”
Dr. Hamid also added that the inability to give those who have died a dignified burial is yet another element of the suffering of families in Khartoum.
“We are seeing a health crisis in the making, on top of a crisis of sorrow, fear, and pain. Where hospitals are still open, they are stretched beyond capacity and nearly non-functional due to staff fatigue and a lack of supplies,” reported the Director.
The worsening situation for Sudanese children
Across the country, at least 2,435 children have been killed or injured since the conflict started, with recent clashes in the capital killing and injuring dozens, including children.
As casualties increase, hospitals are closing, completely emptied of medicines and doctors, and looted of any remaining supplies
On 18 July, a child was killed in shelling, and on 11 July, several homeless children were wounded by stray bullets when clashes took place in a market in the Omdurman area of Khartoum.
On 25 and 27 June, two children were killed and another two wounded in artillery shelling across the city, according to the Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project (ACLED)
Save the Children is calling on parties to the conflict to agree to an immediate cessation of hostilities in Sudan and find a peaceful solution to the conflict.
Vitally, every child, no matter where they live, deserves to live a safe, happy, and healthy life, free from violence.
Save the Children insists that it’s critical for the survival of children and families that we see an end to this fighting and this is the only way to protect children from violence and other violations of their rights.
Save the Children has worked in Sudan since 1983 supporting children and families affected by conflict, displacement, extreme poverty, hunger and a lack of basic services, with many of the children and families we serve are among the most vulnerable and hardest to reach.
The current state of healthcare on the backdrop of the raging Sudan conflict
The World Health Organisation (WHO) notes that when fighting broke out on 15 April 2023, the health system was already overwhelmed due to ongoing conflict, and hunger and disease outbreaks caused by the climate crisis.
Moreover, the country already had a weak capacity to prepare for, prevent, timely detect, and respond to health emergencies.
Similarly, the number of people in need of humanitarian assistance, including emergency health services has markedly increased to 24.7 million people, more than half the population, and 11 million people have been targeted for health response.
About 4 million children and pregnant and breastfeeding women are acutely malnourished, and over 100 000 under-five children with severe acute malnutrition with medical complications need specialized care at stabilization centers.
WHO underscores that the overwhelming health crisis has only been worsened by the closure of hospitals and shortages of staff, medicines and medical supplies.
Moreover, a staggering 67% (60 out of 89) are not functional in areas affected by conflict such as Khartoum, North Kordofan, and Darfur. Hospitals, ambulances, supplies, warehouses, health workers, and patients have been attacked and WHO has verified 51 attacks between 15 April and 24 July 2023.
The Federal Ministry of Health reports that the conflict has injured more than 12, 000 people and killed more than 1100 as of 11th July.
The IOM Displacement Tracking Matrix noted that nearly 3.4 million people had been displaced by the conflict, an estimated 2.6 million people have been internally displaced and over 757,000 people displaced across the border into 6 neighboring countries.
Consequently, this has rippled into a health storm in the region with reports of cases of outbreak-prone diseases such as dengue, malaria, measles, acute watery diarrhea, and acute flaccid paralysis (AFP).
Chad alone is now hosting more than a quarter of a million people, with an equal number projected to arrive by the end of the year, said Dr. Jean-Bosco Ndihokubwayo, WHO Representative in the country.
Funding is urgently needed to help close loopholes and gaps as WHO has provided US$2.4 million to neighboring countries to help support the public health response, as well as delivering emergency medical and non-medical supplies and providing technical support to national authorities.
However, WHO has issued an emergency appeal for US$145 million to respond to the crisis and has only received 10% of this so far.
WHO Representative in Sudan, Dr Nima Saeed Abid said, “WHO with other partners have stayed and delivered, throughout all this period. But is our response match the huge need of the Sudanese people? The answer is no. We need to scale up.”
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