Sudan: Sharp rise in attacks on healthcare

Save the Children analysis of attacks on healthcare as reported by the World Health Organization found that at least 933 people, including children, were killed in over 38 incidents in the first six months of 2025. This is nearly 60 times the number of deaths reported over the same period a year ago [2].

Over 148 people were injured in healthcare attacks in the first half of 2025, which is nearly triple the number of people injured over the same period last year.

The deadly attacks targeted clinics, health facilities, major hospitals, ambulances, and medical convoys while looting of warehouses housing drugs and medical supplies has put more people at risk in a country where half the population - 30.4 million people - are in need of humanitarian aid.

Save the Children said the number of attacks on healthcare has been high since conflict broke out in April 2023 but the spike in casualty numbers this year was alarming, with nearly four times more people killed than in 2023 and 2024 combined.

The latest attack on healthcare took place last week at Al-Mujlad Hospital in West Kordofan state and left over 40 people dead, including six children and five health workers, the WHO's office in Sudan said. Dozens were also injured in the attack.

In January this year, at least one girl and three boys were reportedly killed and three boys injured in an attack on the Saudi Hospital in El Fasher, in Sudan’s North Darfur. The children were among patients receiving care in the hospital’s emergency ward, being treated for injuries resulting from previous bombings in the area.

The attacks on healthcare facilities and workers have increased as the country is reeling from a spiralling cholera outbreak, with 80,000 confirmed cases including more than 1,000 children under five and more than 2,000 deaths nationwide since the outbreak was declared two months ago [3].

On top of direct attacks on hospitals, looting of medical supplies is further compounding the suffering for millions in Sudan. This has included the theft of ready-to-use therapeutic food (RUTF) - a crucial treatment for children suffering from severe acute malnutrition - from UNICEF’s supplies at Al Bashair Hospital in the Sudanese capital, Khartoum, in March and Save the Children facilities.

Save the Children is urgently working to increase life-saving supplies, especially ready-to-use therapeutic food (RUTF), a micronutrient-rich paste used to treat severe acute malnutrition (SAM) in children-especially into Darfur. But RUTF stocks are already dangerously low, and Sudan is among the countries projected to face critical global supply chain gaps in the coming months due to aid cuts.

Francesco Lanino, Deputy Country Director Programs and Operations for Save the Children in Sudan, said:

"Healthcare workers should never have to worry about their safety while providing health services and patients should never have to look over their shoulders while seeking care in hospitals.

"The number of people killed and injured in direct attacks on healthcare this year is alarmingly too high and yet the biggest danger posed by these attacks is families and children opting not to seek services from hospitals when in need and turning to unsafe traditional means.

"We are concerned that in most cases, the hospitals that have come under fire also happen to be the only remaining hospitals in those areas, putting healthcare out of reach for millions including displaced people. With at least 80% of hospitals in Sudan decimated by the conflict, all efforts need to be taken to protect the few standing health facilities still providing services."

Save the Children is urgently calling on the international community to redouble efforts to demand a ceasefire to allow safe and unhindered humanitarian access and a drastic scale-up of humanitarian assistance. This includes securing safe passage for food, medical aid, commercial supplies, and critical nutrition interventions for children suffering from wasting especially in the Darfur region.

Save the Children has worked in Sudan since 1983 and is currently supporting children and their families across Sudan providing health, nutrition, education, child protection and food security and livelihoods support. Save the Children is also supporting refugees from Sudan in Egypt and South Sudan.

ENDS

Notes to editors:

[1] In the first half of 2025 at least 38 attacks on healthcare were reported compared to 13 attacks over the same period in 2024. At least 933 people were killed between 1 January and 30 June 2025 in attacks on healthcare recorded by the World Health Organisation’s Surveillance System for Attacks on Healthcare. This is compared to 16 people killed in 13 attacks on healthcare over a similar period last year. (Database accessed on 01 July 2025). Table below shows the number of attacks, deaths and injuries as retrieved from WHO’s surveillance system for attacks on health care (ssa) on 01 July 2025.

[2] Important note that the WHO surveillance system came into full effect in November 2024 and there is a possibility of underreporting for previous years/ period.

[3] According to data from Sudan’s ministry of health.