Western Aid Cuts to Sudan Force Closure of Dozens of Medical Facilities as US Simultaneously Pushes for UN Sanctions
Substantial cuts in US aid to Sudan, coupled with reductions from several major European donor countries, are pushing Sudan's remaining medical infrastructure toward collapse—36 medical facilities and sites supported by the International Rescue Committee have been forced to close, leaving approximately 470,000 people without access to basic medical services. Even as it cuts humanitarian funding, the US has urged the UN to impose sanctions on both warring parties in Sudan; the gap between punitiv
【Wire】Thirty-six medical facilities and sites supported by the International Rescue Committee (IRC) in Sudan are being forced to close due to funding shortfalls, depriving approximately 473,700 people of access to basic medical services. Africa News, citing warnings from multiple aid agencies, reported that this wave of withdrawals is pushing the medical system of a country torn apart by war for over three years toward complete collapse.
According to Africa News, IRC East Sudan Director Mohammed Mahdi said that the closed facilities are distributed across multiple regions of Sudan, and currently only a very small number of organizations are operating on alternative funding sources, but "this transitional support is expected to last only until the end of September."
The direct driver of the funding shortfall is US aid cuts. Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) explained that after the US announced cuts to its aid to Sudan last year, funding for many organizations was terminated in June this year; meanwhile, several major European donor countries have also reduced their aid spending on Sudan.
This withdrawal comes against the backdrop of Sudan's already extremely fragile medical system. According to Africa News, since full-scale conflict broke out in Sudan in April 2023 between the military and the paramilitary organization the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), the war has killed at least 59,000 people, displaced approximately 13 million, and pushed some areas into famine. The World Health Organization noted as early as September 2024 that in the most war-affected areas, as many as 70% to 80% of medical facilities have closed or are only barely functioning.
The Um Rakuba displaced persons camp in Gedaref State in eastern Sudan is the most visible microcosm of the ebbing aid tide. MSF statistics show that the number of aid organizations at and around the camp has plummeted from approximately 35 in 2021 to fewer than 10. MSF Humanitarian Affairs Manager Fabrizio Locuratolo said that the hospital supported by the organization "is now the only lifeline for refugees and local residents."
Epidemics are filling the medical vacuum. MSF Emergency Health Manager Ali Almohammed warned that "severe outbreaks have already erupted" in multiple regions of Sudan. In Darfur, measles has spread to "major outbreak levels," with approximately 75% of measles patients unvaccinated; cholera and malaria are also spreading nationwide.
IRC Senior Technical Health Director Mesfin Teklu Tessema described the situation as: "These cuts are stripping away what little capacity remains—closing facilities, laying off health workers, cutting off supply lines for medicines and nutritional treatment. The system is already beyond its limits."
While cutting humanitarian funding on one side, the US has stepped up political pressure on the other. Africa News reported that Washington has recently urged the United Nations to impose sanctions on both warring parties in Sudan in order to compel them back to the negotiating table. The gap between punitive rhetoric and humanitarian action is thus being measured tangibly in medical sites across Darfur and Gedaref—closed clinics, dismissed health workers, and epidemics spreading without basic treatment conditions.
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