71 deaths from malnutrition reported in Omdurman amidst ongoing conflict

OMDURMAN (January 31, 2025) – Volunteers in Omdurman, west of the Sudanese capital Khartoum, announced on Friday the deaths of 71 people from malnutrition, with reported cases rising to 1,127 in three sectors of the Ombada locality.

Over the past few weeks, the army has made significant advances, enabling it to control large parts of the Ombada locality and bringing it closer to RSF strongholds in the Libya Market and Dar al-Salam areas.

A member of the Ombada Emergency Room told Sudan Tribune that the medical office recorded 71 deaths from malnutrition, including 69 children and two elderly people, in the Dar al-Salam, Amir, and al-Buqa’a sectors of the Ombada locality during January.

The Emergency Room member added that the cases reached 1,127, mostly among children and the elderly.

He explained that the medical office recorded 1,082 cases of malaria, 522 cases of night blindness, 372 cases of diarrhoea, and 65 cases of dengue fever this month.

He acknowledged that the Emergency Room faces challenges, including a severe lack of life-saving medicines, solutions, and medical equipment, a significant shortage of medical personnel due to complex security conditions, a scarcity of safe drinking water and other supplies, and power outages.

Authorities in the army-controlled states impose strict restrictions on the delivery of some goods to areas under the control of the RSF.