Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) says it is suspending surgical activities at Bashair Teaching Hospital in southern Khartoum, Sudan, after military authorities caused surgical supplies to run out by blocking their delivery from Madani for over a month.
In a statement seen by Radio Tamazuj on Wednesday, MSF said it temporarily withdrawing its surgical team, but is continuing to support maternal, emergency, and outpatient care at Bashair Teaching Hospital.
“It is devastating to have to stop supporting life-saving surgical care at Bashair Hospital,” said Shazeer Majeed, an MSF surgeon who provides guidance to the hospital team.
“Since mid-May, the hospital’s emergency room has received nearly 5,000 patients and MSF’s surgical team has performed more than 3,000 surgical procedures. The needs are huge. Blocking the medication and materials needed to perform surgery deprives people of the health care they so desperately need,” Shazeer added.
MSF started working alongside Ministry of Health staff and volunteers at Bashair Teaching Hospital in mid-May. Since September 8, military authorities have refused permission for MSF to bring new surgical supplies from its warehouses in Wad Madani, in Sudan’s Al-Gazira state, to hospitals in southern Khartoum.
“After weeks of discussions, on October 1, we were informed that the military authorities in Wad Madani will no longer allow the transport of any surgical supplies, including for C-sections, to hospitals in southern Khartoum,” said Michiel Hofman, operations coordinator for Sudan.
“Despite repeated engagement with the health authorities since, these critical supplies remain blocked and stocks in the hospital are now depleted. We have no choice but to suspend our support for surgical activities at Bashair Teaching Hospital and temporarily withdraw our surgical team. We cannot ask our medical teams to stay when they can no longer provide life-saving care as they are medically obliged to do,” Hofman added.
MSF further said it continues to discuss this urgent issue with all authorities concerned in order to enable the delivery of supplies, affirming its readiness to resume surgical activities when supply lines are restored.
Military officials could not immediately be reached for comment.
The paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and the Sudanese military have been locked in fighting for control of Sudan since mid-April.
Since the outbreak of the war, the greater Khartoum area — the cities of Khartoum, Omdurman, and Khartoum North — has become a battleground, with air strikes and shelling taking place in densely populated areas.
There is an increasing concern for those trapped and displaced by the war, and aid workers and civilians have said there’s a dire lack of essential services, medical care, food, and water.