Aid Cuts Are Closing Sudan’s Clinics, and MSF Warns the Health System Is Near Collapse
SUDAN · HUMANITARIAN Key Facts —The warning Médecins Sans Frontières says Sudan’s health system is nearing collapse, as international funding cuts force dozens of clinics to close and push patients onto the few hospitals still open. —The need More than 33 million people in Sudan now require medical assistance, according to AllAfrica’s account of the […] The post Aid Cuts Are Closing Sudan’s…
Aid reductions are causing medical facilities in Sudan to shut down, pushing an already struggling health system to the brink of collapse, warns the humanitarian organization Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF). In a statement on September 8, MSF reported that over 33 million people in Sudan require medical assistance, with the country's ongoing war, hunger, and now austerity measures exacerbating the situation.
Muhammad Ibrahim, MSF's head of mission in Sudan, stated that medical facilities are closing due to lack of funding, exacerbating the already fragile health system. As funding dwindles for other health services, clinics close, leaving fewer options for patients, thereby increasing the burden on remaining facilities, including MSF's operations.
According to AllAfrica, dozens of health facilities have already closed, while MSF-supported centers in Zalingei and Rokero, Central Darfur, have seen a 22.5 percent increase in admissions between January and April 2026 compared to the same period the previous year. In May, 45 general health centers in Central Darfur stopped receiving support as the funding body ran out of money.
In Gedaref state, the departure of a humanitarian organization in June led to the closure of Tanedba camp's maternity and surgical wards, where 18,400 refugees reside, forcing pregnant women to travel up to three hours for caesarean sections. Um Rakuba camp, with approximately 17,000 refugees, has seen its aid organizations drop from 35 to fewer than ten in five years.
In Tawila, North Darfur, where hundreds of thousands of people have fled violent conflict, MSF operates the sole 200-bed hospital, which admitted 191 severely malnourished children under five to its inpatient feeding center in August, with nearly 22 percent also testing positive for malaria. The United Nations estimates that 825,000 Sudanese children under five will suffer severe acute malnutrition, and 19.5 million people are facing crisis-level hunger.
The World Health Organization reports that 37 percent of Sudan's health facilities are entirely out of service, with the UN's US$2.87 billion humanitarian response plan being only 41 percent funded. MSF's warning joins a series of escalating concerns from the nation, including over 11,000 people now reported missing and US senators pushing to cut financing for the conflict by targeting gold and gum arabic exports.
Despite US$2.87 billion being allocated to Sudan, only 41 percent of the humanitarian response plan has been secured. MSF, which does not accept US government funding, emphasizes that the failure of the broader health system impacts its patients, who must travel further and arrive sicker, further straining available resources. The statement coincides with the opening of the UN General Assembly, where leaders will convene this month.
MSF urges governments and institutional donors to protect essential health services in Sudan and provide flexible funding to organizations at risk of immediate closure, noting that the appeal is crucial for determining the state of Sudan's health system once the conflict concludes.
Written by urgent.news from The Rio Times's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
