Attachments
The Safeguarding Health in Conflict Coalition (SHCC) identified 244 incidents of violence against or obstruction of health care in Sudan in 2024. In these incidents, health facilities were damaged 79 times, medical supplies were looted and 66 health workers were killed.
- Conflict-related and displacement factors have increased demand for health care provision, including to treat wounds sustained from violence, and the spread of conflict-related diseases such as cholera.
- Attacks on health care increased during RSF military offensives in North Darfur between April and August and in Gezira in late October and November.
- Some health workers were forced to conduct surgery under dim light in shipping containers buried underground to reduce the likelihood of being violently attacked.
Incidents of violence against or obstruction of health care remained high across 15 of Sudan’s 18 states in 2024, with sharp increases reported across Gezira, North Darfur and Sennar states from April to November. In North Darfur, reported incidents rose from ten in 2023 to over 70 in 2024, peaking between April and August during the RSF siege of El Fasher, the state capital, which saw health facilities damaged 37 times, mainly by RSF shelling, but also by SAF air strikes. In Sennar state, incidents increased between June and October as the RSF launched an offensive against the SAF, targeting towns like Sinja and Dinder. Six health workers were killed, health facilities were looted, and Sinja Teaching Hospital was turned into a military base. In Gezira, incidents quadrupled during 2024, with high numbers between late October and November as the RSF attacked towns like Al-Hilaliya, looting health facilities, killing four health workers, and raping three others.
RSF fighters were implicated in about three-quarters of the cases of violence against or obstruction of health care in 2024, with the rest linked to SAF forces or unidentified attackers. These conflict parties damaged and occupied health facilities and killed, injured, and arrested health workers, while drugs, medical supplies, and equipment were looted. Over 70% of incidents affected health care providers working for national health care structures, with the rest affecting INGOs, local NGOs, private providers, Red Cross societies and UN agencies.