The coastal city of Port Sudan is serving as a safe haven for people seeking refuge from the ongoing war in Sudan. However, the city’s health system is on the verge of collapse due to power cuts, limited supplies, and a shortage of medical staff, worsened by a recent doctors’ strike.
Doctors and nurses in Port Sudan have not received their salaries for four months, as the Sudanese government’s budget has been heavily depleted by clashes between the army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF).
Omar al-Saeed, a nurse at Port Sudan teaching hospital, expressed the strain they are facing, stating, “It is exhausting, there are many patients and there’s a lot of suffering. We only demand they just pay people something small so that they can keep going.”
The conflict erupted in April, four years after the ousting of former President Omar al-Bashir in a popular uprising. Tensions between the army and RSF, who jointly staged a coup in 2021, escalated due to disagreements regarding a transition to civilian rule.
According to the United Nations (UN), over 100,000 individuals have sought refuge in Port Sudan, resulting in overcrowding in the city’s hospitals and shelters. Meanwhile, the main battlegrounds remain in Khartoum and western Sudan.
Martin Griffiths, the UN’s aid chief, has warned that the war has led to “a humanitarian emergency of epic proportions” in Sudan, with diseases such as malaria, measles, and dengue fever becoming increasingly prevalent.
Sudanese hospitals have long suffered from inadequate funding, leading to frequent strikes by medical staff. The ongoing conflict has further devastated the healthcare system, damaging many hospitals in conflict-affected areas.
Doctors in Port Sudan are now grappling with power cuts, extreme humidity, and shortages of necessary medications. These challenges are compounded by the fact that many patients have respiratory illnesses and are kept in close quarters, as reported by hospital officials.
Ayat Mohamed, a supervisor at Dar Abnaa Al-Shamal medical centre, which is accommodating overflow from hospitals with striking staff, lamented the crisis, saying, “We are in a crisis, we pray that God eases it on us.”
Reporting by Ibrahim Mohammed Ishak, writing by Nafisa Eltahir; Editing by Conor Humphries
Credit: The Star : News Feed
