In one particularly horrific attack, an attack on a hospital next to a residential area and livestock market in North Darfur state last Friday left at least 97 civilians dead or injured.
The UN agency warned that attacks on medical facilities, medical personnel and medical supplies violate international human rights law and put Sudan’s health system “at risk.”
“Hospitals, medical facilities, ambulances and other medical assets are a lifeline to the Sudanese people who are enduring relentless fighting and frequent displacement due to the ongoing war,” it said in a statement.
“But their tenacity and dedication are being rewarded with bombings, harassment, intimidation, injuries and death.”
Protecting medical care
The WHO has recorded 88 attacks on health facilities since fighting broke out between rival forces, the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), in April last year.
The UN agency stressed that under international humanitarian law, parties to the conflict have an obligation to ensure that medical care, health and medical supplies and personnel are protected from any harm.
“We call for all health workers, patients and facilities to be protected at all times,” the statement said, stressing the need for the guns to stop to ensure the health system can be rebuilt.
The conflict has left more than 18,800 people dead, 33,000 injured and displaced over 10 million people, including 5 million children. Sudan has also experienced unprecedented levels of food insecurity, with 25.6 million people – more than half the population – facing severe hunger.
Increasing number of infected people
The agency also reported that less than 25 percent of health facilities were functional in fighting-affected provinces, and just 45 percent in other areas.
Toby Harward, the Acting UN Humanitarian Coordinator in Sudan, explained the impact on civilians, particularly children.
A Chadian man who recently returned from Darfur, the region hit hardest by the fighting, said he had no access to functioning hospitals or clinics and vulnerable people were dying in hard-to-reach areas.
He told reporters in New York via video link that many children were showing symptoms of illnesses such as cough, cold and flu, and in the last week alone, 77 children had been admitted to various hospitals with acute malnutrition and other complications.
“These cases are increasing every week,” he added.
