Sudan receives 8 tonnes of life-saving medical material

April 30, 2023 (KHARTOUM) – In a major relief effort, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has delivered eight tonnes of life-saving medical material to Sudan on Sunday for the first time since the eruption of armed conflict in the country.

The medical shipment includes surgical material to support Sudanese hospitals and volunteers from the Sudan Red Crescent Society (SRCS) who are providing medical care to people wounded in the fighting.

With hostilities still ongoing, ICRC teams will need guarantees of safe passage from the parties to the conflict to deliver this material to medical facilities in locations with active fighting, such as Khartoum.

Since commercial flights in Sudan were discontinued and civilian airspace became inaccessible, the ICRC has been working to overcome logistical and security challenges to help civilians in need who are trapped in the fighting.

Patrick Youssef, ICRC’s regional director for Africa, said, “Health-care workers in Sudan have been doing the impossible, caring for the wounded without water, electricity, and basic medical supplies. The logistics needed to bring in supplies amid an active conflict are extremely difficult, and we’re relieved to get this medical material into the country.”

The ICRC is grateful for the support of the authorities in Jordan who rapidly made an aircraft available to deliver this medical cargo.

The ICRC is also sending a second plane carrying additional medical supplies and emergency personnel.

Out of the 86 essential hospitals located near conflict zones in the capital and states, 61 are currently non-functional. In addition, 25 hospitals that are partially or fully operational are at risk of shutting down due to a severe shortage of medical staff, medical supplies, water, and electricity.

(ST)