A Call for Urgent Action Amidst Looting, Destruction, and U.S. Aid Cuts

Hospitals in Ruins, Lives in Peril

Dr. Hatim Kheir, a Canadian physician, witnessed firsthand the catastrophic state of hospitals in Sudan's capital, Khartoum, during a medical mission last month. He described the health system as "near collapse," with hospitals ravaged by looting and destruction.

"The destruction was way worse than we thought it would be," Dr. Kheir said. "It was organized destruction to the whole infrastructure."

The devastation is a result of nearly two years of fighting between the Sudanese army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF). The conflict has caused hundreds of thousands of deaths and injuries, triggered famine in some regions, and forced millions to flee their homes.

Dr. Kheir visited two hospitals in Bahri, a city adjoining Khartoum, and found them completely wrecked. There was no power or water supply, laboratories and operating theatres were destroyed, and equipment was looted or stolen. Even the electricity cables were dug up and removed.

The situation is equally dire in Omdurman, another Khartoum-area city. The main teaching hospital was nearly empty, with equipment heavily damaged. Even the medical monitor screens were deliberately smashed by RSF fighters.

The Al-Buluk children's hospital in Omdurman, which had 27 beds before the war, now has 208 beds due to widespread injuries and malnutrition. At the peak of the war, up to 160 malnourished children were admitted per day, and two or three would die during a single day's rounds.

Dr. Kheir expressed concern that the humanitarian crisis in Sudan will worsen due to the U.S. government's decision to terminate billions of dollars in aid programs. He visited an intensive care unit for children in Port Sudan, sponsored by the Sudanese American Physicians Association (SAPA) with funding from USAID. The unit was treating four children with heart and kidney problems.

"If we stop funding, those four children will die," Dr. Kheir said. "We're providing a lifeline to people, and it will suddenly stop. It's very dangerous for people in a life-and-death situation."

Dr. Kheir also witnessed the destruction of his own family house in Bahri, looted and wrecked by RSF fighters. He worries that Sudan will be forgotten by the world as it focuses on other crises.

"It's sad that the whole world has forgotten about Sudan and the Sudanese people," he said. "Sudan is at the bottom of their agenda. The people of Sudan are dying and suffering. We don't have anything to do with politics – the people just need help.