Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) is appealing for support to resume operations at Sudan’s Bashair Hospital, where it suspended work in January following repeated violent incidents.
The aid group said it is returning with an initial focus on addressing a worsening cholera outbreak.
“MSF teams are returning to the hospital after suspending activities in January due to several violent incidents,” the organization said in a statement Friday.
Medical needs in southern Khartoum remain critical, MSF said.
“Our team at Bashair Hospital has been preparing a 20-bed cholera treatment unit to receive patients. Training for over 60 hospital staff has been completed, and cholera-related medical supplies have arrived,” MSF said. “The war has had a devastating impact on people’s access to health care.”
Slaymen Ammar, MSF’s medical coordinator for Sudan, said many residents in the capital lack access to life-saving medical services, making the resumption and expansion of critical care at Bashair Hospital urgent.
Like many health facilities in Khartoum and across Sudan, Bashair Teaching Hospital ceased operations when war broke out in April 2023. Weeks later, local medics and volunteers reopened it to provide essential care. An MSF surgical team joined them on May 9, 2023, enabling the hospital to offer emergency surgeries. In the first five weeks, the emergency room treated more than 1,000 patients, including over 900 with war-related injuries.
For 20 months, MSF staff worked alongside volunteers to treat people caught in the violence of southern Khartoum. The hospital repeatedly saw surges of critically injured patients, underscoring dire needs.
In August 2023, MSF and hospital staff treated more than 200 wounded people in two days following nearby bombings. When the maternity ward reopened in September, 40 babies were delivered in the first two weeks, including seven by cesarean section.
MSF has suspended operations multiple times due to violence and supply restrictions. In 2023, a ban on surgical supplies halted trauma and obstetric surgeries for months. In late 2024, violent incidents, including the killing of a patient, forced another suspension. Armed men entering the hospital in January 2025 led MSF to halt all activities.
While Khartoum is now relatively calmer, many hospitals remain damaged or closed.
“The needs in Khartoum are immense,” said Claire San Filippo, MSF’s emergency coordinator for Sudan. “The cholera outbreak is just one challenge facing residents and returnees. Humanitarian aid must increase, access must be ensured, and health care must be protected so all who need it can receive treatment.”