The ongoing war and displacement in Sudan’s Blue Nile region have placed mounting pressure on healthcare facilities amid shortages of medicines and funding, with several health facilities forced out of service.
The situation has exacerbated patients’ suffering, particularly among those arriving from areas affected by fighting.
At Damazin Teaching Hospital, which is receiving growing numbers of patients and displaced people from across the region and other Sudanese states, challenges in securing medicines and meeting healthcare needs are intensifying.
The region’s director-general of health said that all health service facilities across Blue Nile had ceased operating, with the exception of those in the Agedi area. This has undermined the authorities’ ability to sustain healthcare provision and disrupted the delivery of specialist services by Ministry of Health personnel.
“The healthcare and medical infrastructure has been severely affected by attacks and destruction, beginning in the al-Tadamon area, while health facilities in the Kurmuk and Geissan areas have also been forced out of service,” he said.
These challenges have coincided with rising treatment costs, further burdening patients, particularly displaced families and low-income households struggling to afford medicines and medical care.
One patient, who said he had contracted dengue fever more than three times, described the difficulties he faced in obtaining treatment. He noted that medical tests often revealed other illnesses alongside dengue fever, including malaria, typhoid and infections.
“I have struggled considerably to obtain medication,” he lamented. “Even Panadol IV fluid has become extremely expensive and is not available at every pharmacy. Artesunate treatment is also not covered by health insurance.”
As a result, patients are increasingly forced to purchase medicines from private pharmacies at exorbitant prices.
The patient called for all medicines to be covered by health insurance so that residents of Blue Nile could enjoy better health and well-being.
Dr. Jihad Abdelghani, a general practitioner at Damazin Teaching Hospital, said war-related displacement had significantly affected healthcare services. She noted that the hospital continued to operate at full capacity despite a substantial increase in patients arriving from southern parts of the region and other Sudanese states.
“The growing patient load has led to shortages of some medicines, particularly malaria drugs, which are sometimes unavailable in the emergency department,” she said. “Patients are consequently forced to buy them from outside pharmacies at inflated prices.”
A single dose of artesunate, she said, cost between 18,000 and 20,000 Sudanese pounds, placing an additional financial burden on patients. She stressed the need to increase the region’s allocation of medical supplies to meet rising demand, noting that Damazin Teaching Hospital serves residents across all seven localities of the region.
The doctor also warned that difficulties travelling from rural areas to hospitals in urban centres, coupled with security risks along the roads, could put patients’ lives at risk, particularly pregnant women, children and older people.
Patients’ suffering extends beyond medicine shortages and the rising cost of treatment to those accompanying them in their search for healthcare, who also face considerable difficulties accessing medical services.
A woman accompanying a patient identified as Umm Sajid described the hospital’s deteriorating conditions.
“When you accompany a patient to the emergency hospital, you find that their condition has worsened, and even the person accompanying them may fall ill,” she said, calling for greater attention to the emergency hospital.
At the level of healthcare facilities across the region’s localities, Dr. Mustafa Jabrallah, director-general of the Blue Nile Ministry of Health, said the war had forced some facilities to suspend operations.
He explained that the ministry had worked to rehabilitate and reopen hospitals in Kurmuk, Geissan and Wad Al-Mahi, but the effects of the conflict had subsequently forced them out of service again.
Dr. Jabrallah also reported cases of viral hepatitis, saying they had been addressed. He added that children were among those most vulnerable to malnutrition, given the harsh humanitarian conditions facing displaced people in shelters.
“The health sector has continued to face funding shortfalls and shortages of medical supplies, undermining the continuity of healthcare services and the provision of essential medicines and other necessities for patients,” he said.
In displacement shelters, the health crisis has taken on additional dimensions, as residents grapple with a lack of basic services and limited access to medical care.
At Al-Karama 3 camp in Damazin, displaced people face difficulties accessing essential healthcare amid harsh living and humanitarian conditions.
Bakri Khalifa, a member of the camp’s displaced people’s committee, said the site lacked toilets and health centers, as well as mobile clinics that could provide medical services to residents. The absence of these facilities has raised concerns about displaced people’s access to basic healthcare. He also warned of deteriorating sanitary conditions.
“The lack of toilets and washing facilities has forced displaced people to relieve themselves in the open, further worsening public health risks during rainfall,” he stated.
These conditions are deteriorating further as displacement continues and healthcare needs grow, leaving displaced people facing additional obstacles to obtaining treatment and essential medical care.
Meanwhile, Umm Sajid urged the government and relevant authorities to pay greater attention to Damazin Teaching Hospital, assess its needs and improve cleanliness and sanitation within the facility to ensure a safer environment for patients and healthcare workers.
With medicines increasingly scarce and unaffordable, health facilities out of service and basic services absent from displacement camps, the healthcare crisis in Blue Nile continues to deepen.
The situation underscores the urgent need to increase funding and medical supplies, restore non-operational health facilities and improve sanitary conditions in hospitals and displacement shelters. Such measures are essential to ensuring that patients and displaced people can access basic healthcare and reducing the risks threatening their lives.
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