Sudan: MSF forced to suspend support in Wad Madani due to obstructions and harassment

By 13 January, we were able to send a team back to Wad Madani, where several hundred thousand people remained in which used to be one of the most populated cities of Sudan. 

Since then, our teams have been supporting the emergency room, operation theatre, maternity, inpatient department – including paediatrics, the therapeutic feeding centre, and adult and surgical wards – and pharmacy at Madani Teaching Hospital.

We also provided mental health support and care for sexual violence. In addition, we are also provided training, salary incentives to 240 Ministry of Health (MoH) staff, and food for patients.

Between mid-January and the end of April, MSF provided nearly 10,000 outpatient consultations – malaria was the most common illness treated – 2,142 antenatal consultations, and care to 16 survivors of sexual violence. During this period, there was a constant influx of patients into the emergency room, totalling 2,981 admissions. A significant number of these admissions involved physical injuries sustained in the ongoing violence.  

MSF has now suspended all support to the facility, and we have relocated our staff to safer areas of Sudan. Over the past three months, our team and the supported MoH staff have faced repeated security incidents that have been either carried out or tolerated by the RSF, including looting of the hospital, stolen vehicles, and staff being retained, among multiple other incidents.