Sudan's already fragile healthcare system is reportedly on the verge of collapse, as widespread global funding cuts have led to the closure of medical facilities across the country, Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) has warned.
The medical charity stated that numerous organisations have been unable to secure alternative funding after the United States, historically the largest donor to Sudan, closed USAID, its foreign aid delivery body, last year. This has resulted in the cessation of existing grants to many USAID-funded organisations, which expired in June. Concurrently, European governments have also been scaling back their international assistance programmes.
Globally, international aid witnessed a significant decline, falling by 21.3 per cent in 2025 compared to the preceding year, according to data from the Paris-based Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).
The situation has been exacerbated by the civil war that erupted in April 2023 between the Sudanese army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF). This conflict has triggered one of the world's most severe humanitarian crises, with more than 33 million people currently in urgent need of medical assistance.
Muhammad Ibrahim, MSF's head of charity in Sudan, emphasised the gravity of the situation, stating: "War is driving Sudan's needs; funding cuts are shrinking the response. MSF's work in Sudan is privately funded. But when funding disappears from other health services, clinics close, patients have fewer places to go, and pressure shifts to the facilities that remain, including ours."
This escalating pressure means that patients are frequently compelled to undertake perilous and protracted journeys to access treatment. Sebastián Traficante, MSF's emergency co-ordinator in the western region of Darfur, an area significantly affected by fighting over the past three years, explained the dire consequences: "After a longer and more expensive journey, patients often arrive in a much more serious condition, and the hospital may already be full."
Data from MSF reveals a substantial increase in demand for their services. Between January and April 2026, admissions to facilities supported by MSF in central Darfur rose by 22.5 per cent when compared to the corresponding period last year. In May alone, 45 healthcare centres in the Darfur region reportedly stopped receiving vital funding.
The closure of frontline medical services is placing severe strain on other operational hospitals, leading to a diminished capacity to function effectively and a scarcity of essential medicines.
As an example, MSF cited the Tanedba camp in Gedaref state, which accommodates 18,400 individuals displaced from their homes. Its maternity and surgical wards ceased operations after a humanitarian organisation withdrew its support in June. MSF is now managing an emergency room in the camp, but pregnant women requiring surgical intervention for childbirth must endure a three-hour journey to the nearest city for care.
Similarly, at the Um Rakuba camp, also in Gedaref, the number of aid agencies active has plummeted from 35 in 2021 to fewer than 10 today. The charity reports that this camp currently hosts approximately 17,000 people, predominantly women and children.
Liz Harding, MSF's UK humanitarian representative, warned of further deterioration should support not increase: "If support does not increase, more patients will face longer journeys, fewer treatment options and greater risk of arriving too late for care."
Concurrently with the funding crisis, attacks against healthcare workers and facilities persist. In 2025, Sudan recorded 1,620 fatalities from attacks on medical facilities, a figure that MSF states accounted for 82 per cent of all global deaths resulting from attacks on healthcare worldwide.
Beyond the healthcare sector, the humanitarian situation across Sudan remains critical. United Nations figures indicate that more than 19.5 million people are experiencing "crisis levels" of food insecurity, with over five million facing "emergency levels of hunger."
Despite ongoing diplomatic efforts aimed at brokering an end to the civil war, with international diplomats expected to arrive in the Sudanese capital, Khartoum, for consultations, the fighting shows no discernible signs of abating. Recent reports from North Kordofan state on Tuesday detailed that at least 11 individuals were killed in a drone strike on Umm Ruwaba, an army-controlled town. Medical sources reported that the projectile struck a crowded courtyard within a court complex.
