Sudan, MSF staff forced to suspend all activities in the only functioning hospital in Wad Madani after 3 months of attacks and looting

ROMA – The staff of Doctors Without Borders (MSF) was forced to temporarily suspend operations and withdraw its staff from Madani Teaching Hospital, the only functioning hospital for hundreds of thousands of people in the capital of Al Jazirah state, Sudan. This difficult decision comes after more than three months of ongoing challenges in trying to provide support to the hospital, including growing insecurity, the inability to bring in new staff and medical supplies due to the denial of travel permits and Repeated security incidents, such as looting and attacks, which affected the ability to provide medical care.

“Stop violating hospitals”. MSF calls on the parties to the conflict to stop violating health facilities and to ensure the safety of medical personnel and to grant the necessary travel permits for the movement of personnel and the delivery of supplies. “The health system and basic services in Al Jazirah state have collapsed due to fighting and the systematic blockade of supplies and staff,” says Mari Carmen Viñoles, MSF’s head of operations in Sudan.

“The void we leave”. “MSF was the only international organization providing support to Wad Madani. Our departure leaves a profound void for people struggling to access healthcare and living in insecurity and without transportation.”

The bombings and the displaced. In mid-December, fighting reached Wad Madani – the capital of Al Jazirah state, located about 136 kilometers south-east of Khartoum – and, according to the International Organization for Migration, at least 630,000 people were forced to flee to other parts of Sudan, many of which were already displaced. By the end of the same month, MSF had evacuated all personnel from Wad Madani following the Rapid Support Forces’ (RSF) offensive in the town, which until then had been controlled by the government-led Sudan Armed Forces (SAF).

The disaster in one of the most populous cities in Sudan. On January 13, MSF was able to send a team to Wad Madani, where several hundred thousand people remained, in what was once one of Sudan’s most populated cities. Since then, MSF has supported the emergency room, maternity, paediatrics, surgical services, therapeutic feeding center and pharmacy at Madani Teaching Hospital. MSF also provided mental health services and support for survivors of sexual violence. In addition, MSF provided training, salary incentives to 240 Ministry of Health employees and food for patients.

The 10,000 outpatient visits. Between mid-January and the end of April, MSF provided nearly 10,000 outpatient visits, mostly for malaria cases, and 2,142 antenatal visits and care for 16 survivors of sexual violence. During this period, there was a constant influx of patients to the emergency room for a total of 2,981 hospitalizations, mostly for physical injuries caused by the violence. MSF has now suspended support to the facility and moved its staff to safer areas of Sudan.

The numerous security risks in the last 3 months. Over the past three months, the MSF team and Ministry of Health staff have faced repeated security incidents, perpetrated or condoned by the RSF, including looting, vehicle thefts and kidnappings of staff, among numerous other incidents and pressures. Since January, Sudanese authorities have continued to deny travel permits to bring new personnel, medical and logistical supplies to the city.

“We have to leave, we have no other choice.” “Although the humanitarian and medical needs in Wad Madani and Al Jazirah are immense, we have no choice but to immediately stop our work and leave the area,” adds MSF’s Viñoles. “The deliberate administrative blockades, growing insecurity and continuous violations of the hospital as a neutral space have made it impossible to continue our medical-humanitarian activity.” MSF is willing to return to support the Madani Teaching Hospital if the parties to the conflict commit to respecting medical work and ensuring safe and uninterrupted access to the area.

MSF work in Sudan. MSF doctors and nurses in the African country currently work and support more than 30 health facilities in nine states of Sudan: Khartoum, White and Blue Nile, Al Gedaref, West Darfur, North, South and Central Darfur and the Red Sea. MSF teams provide trauma care, maternal and child care and malnutrition care, along with other health services. MSF teams also support Sudanese refugees and returnees in South Sudan and eastern Chad.