Health Needs In Darfur Far Exceed Available Resources, by Kestér Kenn Klomegâh

WHO is calling for an urgent increase in resources to meet growing humanitarian health needs in Darfur, alongside safe, sustained and unhindered humanitarian access to enable health partners to scale up the response.

Health and humanitarian needs across Darfur far exceed the resources currently available to respond, particularly in Tawila, where more than 700,000 displaced people are facing severe gaps in health, nutrition, food, water, sanitation and protection services.

The warning follows a 10-day field mission to Darfur states by WHO Representative in Sudan Dr Abdinasir Abubakar. He visited health facilities and met with health workers, community leaders and displaced communities to assess the evolving health situation and priority needs.

From 14 to 24 September, Dr Abdinasir visited all Darfur states except East Darfur, including major referral hospitals, primary health care centres, dialysis units, laboratory facilities and WHO-supported projects, including the World Bank-funded Sudan Health Assistance and Response to Emergencies (SHARE) Project at hospitals in Nyala and El Geneina, to assess progress and identify opportunities to strengthen health service delivery for vulnerable communities.

The situation in Tawila reflects wider pressures across Darfur, where ongoing insecurity, large-scale displacement, limited access to essential services and recurrent disease outbreaks place millions of people at risk. According to the International Organization for Migration (IOM), Darfur hosts 65% of Sudan’s 8.6 million internally displaced people.

Across the Darfur region, 39 health cluster partners on the ground continue to demonstrate strong commitment to deliver essential health services and reach millions of people in need. Despite these efforts, significant gaps remain. Many localities and vulnerable communities lack adequate access to basic, lifesaving health care. Health workers provide essential services under extremely difficult conditions, often with shortages of medicines, medical supplies, infrastructure and personnel, as the scale of health needs continues to outpace the capacity of the response.

“I have witnessed the immense scale of health and humanitarian needs in Tawila and other parts of Darfur,” said Dr Abdinasir. “I have met dedicated partners and health workers who continue to serve their communities despite insecurity, access constraints, funding and supply shortages and gaps in partner presence. We must ensure that these frontline responders have the resources, support and tools they need to meet the growing needs of the people they serve.”

Rising malnutrition was a major concern at the health facilities visited by Dr Abdinasir. The situation is expected to deteriorate further as poor rainfall, crop failures and the projected impact of a strong El Niño event deepens food insecurity and vulnerability. Access to mental health and psychosocial support services is severely limited, and shortages of mental health medicines leave many people without the care they need.

Critical medicines and supplies for HIV, TB, neglected tropical diseases and other lifesaving interventions are running dangerously low. Urgent action and additional resources are needed to prevent further deterioration and ensure vulnerable populations can access essential health services.

Since taking up his post as WHO Representative in August, Dr Abdinasir has visited hospitals, primary health care centres and public health laboratories, meeting with health workers and communities in Red Sea, Khartoum, Northern and Darfur states.

WHO’s technical teams are working across the country to coordinate the health response and provide technical support to health authorities and partners. The Organization is ready to scale up its operations in Darfur, Kordofan and other conflict-affected areas, including by expanding the provision of essential medicines and medical supplies, strengthening early warning and disease surveillance systems, supporting reference laboratory capacity for timely disease detection and confirmation, and strengthening decentralized Health Cluster coordination by providing greater support to national and local partners. But the resources at WHO’s disposal – with just 23% of its US$97.7 million humanitarian appeal for 2026 funded – do not match the needs on the ground.

The scale of humanitarian needs across Darfur–indeed, across the whole of Sudan–requires significantly increased and sustained funding to expand the health response and address critical gaps in medicines, medical supplies, disease surveillance, laboratory capacity and essential health services. Equally important is ensuring safe, sustained and unimpeded humanitarian access so that health partners can reach all populations in need with timely lifesaving assistance.

WHO calls on donors, partners and all stakeholders to sustain and increase their support to ensure that vulnerable communities across Sudan can access the health services and assistance they urgently need.