The war in Sudan has created one of the biggest humanitarian and displacement crises in the world, but it is receiving little international attention. Warring parties and their allies are inflicting severe suffering, attacking and killing civilians in blatant disregard of international humanitarian law. Both the SAF and RSF have attacked humanitarian and medical aid, while the country’s health system, already fragile before the conflict started, is struggling to cope with the medical needs under overwhelming pressure. A massive scale-up of aid is crucial but has failed to materialize. Here's what to know:

It’s led to the world’s largest displacement crisis.

The war in Sudan has forced 14 million people to flee their homes since it started in April 2023, including more than 9 million internally displaced and 4.5 million who have fled to other countries. In Darfur, displaced families have been sheltering in abandoned buildings like schools and orphanages, while those across the border in eastern Chad live in sprawling desert camps where water and other basic needs are scarce.  

Sudan's health system has collapsed.

Sudan’s health system is operating under extreme strain, bearing the weight of more than three years of war and its medical consequences. Shortages of essential medicines, staff, and medical equipment are compromising the quality of care and limiting the ability of health care facilities to respond to growing needs. But for many communities, even primary health services are becoming increasingly difficult to access, let alone specialized care.

Attacks on health care have only compounded the challenges communities face in accessing medical services. Since the war started on April 15, 2023, the World Health Organization (WHO) has verified 217 attacks on health care in Sudan, leaving 2,052 health workers and patients dead and 810 injured. When care cannot be delivered safely or impartially, civilians lose access to essential medical services and the health system is further weakened. That’s why protecting health workers and facilities is essential for any meaningful access to care.

Sexual violence has become widespread.

Sexual violence has become a defining feature of this conflict. Survivor testimonies and MSF medical data indicate widespread, systematic attacks primarily affecting women and girls, who then face significant barriers to care, including stigma and limited protection services. Impunity, displacement, collapsing community support systems, lack of access to health care, and gender inequalities are allowing these abuses to continue across the country.

MSF responds to the needs of survivors and has worked to improve access to care by reinforcing referral pathways through four community-based centers in displacement camps.

Humanitarian funding cuts are causing visible harm.

Our teams in Sudan are witnessing the immediate impacts of international humanitarian funding cuts, including the disruption of national vaccination programs, water provision, sexual and reproductive health services, and mental health programs, as well as shortages of food and nutritional supplements. Hospitals are closing, with threats of further shutdowns, and an increasing number of patients are struggling to access care as the remaining facilities become increasingly overburdened.

MSF urges the donor community to increase their support and funding for Sudan to sustain a humanitarian response.

MSF has more than 1,700 staff working across 10 of Sudan’s 18 states, running two hospitals and two clinics as well as supporting an additional 13 hospitals and 18 primary health care centers. Between January and July 2026, our activities included:

• 403,793 outpatient consultations
• 72,303 emergency room visits
• 2,290 surgical procedures
• 13,209 admissions to inpatient and outpatient therapeutic feeding programs
• 46,085 admissions to hospitals
• 3,176 violence-related cases
• 14,838 deliveries assisted
• 3,778 individual mental health consultations
• 69,076 group mental health sessions
• 3,519 cholera cases
• 1,827 sexual violence cases 

Khartoum state

In Khartoum state, MSF continues to deliver essential medical services at four major hospitals and primary health centers. Our teams support emergency and surgical care, maternal and pediatric services, treatment for infectious diseases and malnutrition, and epidemic response activities throughout Omdurman, Khartoum city, Bahri, and Jabal Awliya.  

Blue Nile

MSF runs the malnutrition ward at the main hospital in Blue Nile state; other activities include responding to epidemics, providing mental health support, conducting health promotion, and supporting primary health care in camps for displaced people. In Karama camp, which currently hosts over 110,000 displaced people, MSF provides outpatient care, reproductive health services, health promotion, environmental health activities, and support for the provision of safe drinking water and vector control measures to prevent the transmission of insect-borne diseases.

Gedaref

In Gedaref state, MSF provides emergency care, outpatient and inpatient care, maternity services, and treatment for chronic and infectious diseases, including cholera. Our teams in Gedaref also work in camps for displaced people, supporting their access to health care. We also run two projects treating people for kala azar, as Gedaref is a global hotspot for the disease.

White Nile

In White Nile state, our teams focus on emergency preparedness and response, strengthening community surveillance, and supporting referral pathways to help people reach care quickly during outbreaks. We also support two rapid response teams with investigations of potential disease outbreaks, early diagnosis, and case management or referrals to health facilities.  

North & South Kordofan

In North Kordofan, following months negotiating access with the authorities, MSF launched an emergency response in El Obeid, the state’s capital, in January. This followed an assessment conducted in late 2025, which identified huge health and humanitarian needs. We are currently assessing health needs in the community and water, sanitation, and hygiene needs in the main hospitals and in displacement camps.  

In South Kordofan, MSF has launched an emergency intervention based in Abu Jubeiha in response to waves of displaced people moving through the town. Our teams are focusing on environmental health and vaccination activities in displacement sites. The team is also rehabilitating the hospital’s emergency department, with plans to position staff and support emergency care in the ER. MSF will also form an integral part of the state’s outbreak response.

Central & West Darfur

In Central and West Darfur states, MSF supports four hospitals and a primary health care center with a comprehensive package of care adapted to each location, including in Foro Baranga, Zalingei, and El Geneina. We are also working in Rokero, a hard-to-reach area in the northern Jebel Marra (Marra Mountains), an area controlled by SLA-AW, an armed group that has declared itself neutral. MSF teams in hospitals provide emergency and inpatient services, maternity care, treatment for malnutrition and common childhood illnesses, responses to cholera and measles, mental health support, and assistance for survivors of sexual violence, among other activities. In some areas, MSF also provides surgery and supports outpatient consultations to expand access to health care for remote communities.

North Darfur

In North Darfur state, reported drone strikes have intensified in recent months, including attacks affecting the towns of Tina and Karnoi, further increasing risks for civilians and complicating humanitarian access. After suspending activities in Zamzam camp in February 2025, MSF shifted its focus to emergency assistance in Tawila, where we operate a 200-bed hospital providing emergency, maternal, pediatric, mental health, nutritional, and surgical care in an area with 600,000 to 800,000 displaced people. The facility has a general outpatient department, including a nutrition clinic. We also distribute water and provide care for survivors of sexual and gender-based violence. Our teams play a critical role in responding to outbreaks, including cholera and measles. MSF is currently the only organization with the operational capacity to mount a large-scale epidemic response in the area.  

South Darfur

In South Darfur state, very few international organizations are present and access to health care is severely constrained. MSF supports Nyala Teaching Hospital with pediatric emergency and inpatient care, neonatology, and inpatient malnutrition treatment for severely malnourished children with complications. We also provide primary health care, nutritional support, care for survivors of sexual violence, sexual and reproductive health care, and other community-based services in and around Nyala, including areas hosting many displaced people. In Kas and South Jebel Marra, MSF supports hospital and primary health care services, including emergency care, pediatric and maternal care, nutritional support, care for survivors of sexual violence, and sexual and reproductive health care, as well as outreach activities in remote communities. MSF has played a significant role in revitalizing water systems in South Darfur by repairing infrastructure, including water networks that were heavily damaged during active fighting and community-based hand pumps. 

The war has had catastrophic consequences for people’s health, with food insecurity, widespread sexual violence, and recurring disease outbreaks raising the health risks and putting further pressure on hospitals facing critical supply and staffing shortages. At the same time, bureaucratic restrictions and administrative barriers hinder the ability of humanitarian organizations like MSF to reach people in need.

• Food insecurity and malnutrition: Over the course of the war, food insecurity and malnutrition have reached catastrophic levels in parts of Sudan, such as Zamzam camp in North Darfur, once the largest displacement site in the country. Acute malnutrition is on the rise, compounding the risk of death from otherwise treatable illnesses. Between January and July 2026, MSF teams admitted 13,209 patients to inpatient and outpatient therapeutic feeding programs across Sudan.
• Disease outbreaks: MSF has witnessed recurrent outbreaks of deadly, yet preventable, diseases across Sudan, including measles in Darfur, hepatitis E in Jazeera, and cholera in Khartoum and White Nile states. These surges are claiming the lives of the most vulnerable, especially children and pregnant women. The lack of availability and access to vaccinations has left many children unvaccinated, heightening the risks. In 2025, we treated 9,520 patients for measles and 40,800 for cholera. 
• Surgery and emergency care: The war has put intense pressure on hospitals with surgery and emergency departments as patients arrive with catastrophic injuries caused by explosions, bullets, and stabbings. In recent months, MSF has observed the extensive use of drones by both RSF and SAF, with strikes increasingly occurring far beyond front lines and targeting logistical infrastructure and populated civilian areas.  
• Maternal and pediatric care: Due to the scarcity of functional health care facilities, pregnant women in Sudan often seek care only after experiencing complications, which creates great risks for women and their newborns. And with the loss of livelihoods and disrupted access to food and clean water, many pregnant women arrive at hospitals malnourished. This also affects the health of their babies, who are often born preterm and malnourished as a result. These babies are frequently admitted to observation units to ensure their survival and well-being. In 2025, MSF assisted 34,400 births in Sudan. So far in 2026, we have assisted 14,838 deliveries. 

• A massive scale-up of aid is urgently needed, and unhindered humanitarian access must be granted.  
• Attacks on civilians must stop now. Those responsible must take immediate, concrete steps to stop the suffering, protect civilians, and ensure accountability for ongoing violations.
• Safe passage must be guaranteed for civilians seeking care.  
• Diplomatic pressure must be applied to those financing, arming, or politically supporting the warring parties. Influential international actors must also ensure that all responsible parties uphold their obligations under international humanitarian law.  

MSF has been present in Sudan since 1979, witnessing historic changes and escalating needs in response to the rapid shifts in the country’s political and social dynamics, which in turn impact health needs. 

Our intervention began shortly before the Second Sudanese Civil War (1983-2005), which was fought primarily between the north and south of Sudan and was one of Africa's longest civil wars. MSF was actively involved in providing medical care to war-affected communities dealing with massive displacement, famine, and the outbreak of diseases. With the independence of South Sudan in 2011, MSF continued operations in both countries, adapting to the shifting dynamics of conflict and the division of resources. 

When the war broke out in April 2023, many activities were either stopped or shifted to respond to the emerging needs and emergencies across the country. Some activities continued—in Darfur, for example—thanks to the efforts of our locally hired MSF staff, who continued to work despite the extremely difficult personal and environmental circumstances. 

MSF provides medical care to anyone who needs it, regardless of race, religion, or political affiliation. We are calling on all parties to the conflict to ensure the safety of civilians, medical facilities, and personnel. Hospitals must remain a sanctuary for people seeking care.  

To facilitate our humanitarian and medical work, we speak to all parties to the conflict to request safe, rapid, and unimpeded access to civilians who require medical care and to ensure the safety and security of our staff. This is why our independence and impartiality are essential to our work in all the places we operate across the globe. 

Learn more about the principles that guide our work >

Over the past three years of war, nearly a million people have fled Sudan into neighboring Chad, including 700,000 who have crossed through the border town of Adré alone. Many arrive in fragile condition after undertaking the long and dangerous journey from Sudan’s Darfur region and require immediate assistance. More than 80 percent of those fleeing to Chad are women and children.  

In border areas like Adré, what were initially intended as temporary reception sites have evolved into large, long-term settlements where thousands of people are living in precarious conditions and rely on humanitarian support. Many of the places refugees are living in Chad already had limited access to essential services, and the arrival of large numbers of refugees has only compounded the pressure. In Metché camp in eastern Chad, where MSF and Action Contre la Faim are the only health care providers, only 8 liters (slightly more than 2 gallons) of water are available per person daily — well below the 20-liter (5.3 gallons) emergency minimum. This has forced families to drink directly from unsafe water sources. Consequently, the number of patients with diarrhea surged from 634 in the first half of 2025 to 1,044 in 2026.

MSF teams work in camps across eastern Chad, including Adré, Metché, and Aboutengue, helping to fill critical gaps in health care and access to water and sanitation. We provide medical services including vaccination, trauma care, malnutrition treatment, maternal care, and treatment for diseases like malaria and cholera. We also support water and sanitation by drilling boreholes, constructing latrines, and distributing clean water.

Since April 2023, more than 1.3 million refugees and returnees have fled across Sudan’s southern border into South Sudan, a country unprepared to absorb such large numbers of people. Many end up at the Renk transit site, located on the border, which was intended to be a temporary stopover for people fleeing the war but has become a sprawling settlement, with poor living conditions and limited access to services. With much of the country facing ongoing insecurity, attacks on health care, intercommunal violence, flooding, and economic decline, the humanitarian situation is deteriorating further.

Health facilities are struggling to cope with such a massive and sustained influx of displaced people. In 2025 alone, MSF opened 12 emergency projects in response to cholera outbreaks, malaria peaks, flooding, and displacement linked to violence — more than double the number of emergency responses launched in 2024. 

Following the eruption of war in Sudan, MSF launched a project in Renk in May 2023. Our teams support Renk Hospital's pediatric, nutritional, and maternity services; respond to disease outbreaks and massive influxes of wounded people; and run mobile clinics in refugee settlements scattered throughout Renk County.