Sudan

Healthcare

International Medical Corps supports and operates in 77 health facilities across Sudan, delivering essential health services, strengthening health systems and providing resources to deploy skilled health workers to those facilities. Essential health services include treatment and prevention of disease, along with reproductive healthcare, health education, immunization, child healthcare and surveillance, clinical management and of rape and referrals to emergency- and secondary-level health services, including surgery and obstetric care.

Reproductive health services include antenatal care (ANC), clean and safe deliveries attended by skilled birth attendants, postnatal care (PNC), newborn care and family planning. We help children by providing integrated management of childhood illnesses, immunizations and nutrition screening.

In 2023, despite limited access and chronic instability, we provided humanitarian assistance to more than 1.6 million people. During the same period, we provided 667,193 outpatient consultations to those in need, including thousands of patients treated for acute respiratory infections, diarrhea and malaria, which continue to be the leading causes of disease in our program areas.

We also reached women with comprehensive reproductive health services, including 17,219 women who received ANC, 8,679 who delivered babies assisted by skilled healthcare personnel and 8,393 who received PNC. In addition, we immunized 36,293 children, including 24,829 vaccinated against measles. We have also engaged with local organizations across Sudan to build their capacity and enable them to deliver health education for 85,184 people on critical topics such as immunizations; infectious diseases; malaria and measles transmission, prevention and control; ANC; birth preparedness and healthy delivery; PNC; and family planning.

Health Systems Strengthening

We support efforts by Sudan’s Ministry of Health (MoH) to promote a stronger healthcare delivery system. Our activities include supporting service delivery, providing information management, rehabilitating health facilities, deploying healthcare workers, and providing medicines and medical supplies. We support MoH efforts around disease control, disease surveillance and immunization, and train MoH staff on emergency preparedness.

Nutrition

International Medical Corps provides nutrition services in Sudan to those most vulnerable to hunger—including children under 5, pregnant women and nursing mothers. We operate 71 outpatient therapeutic programs (OTPs), 69 target supplementary treatment centers (TSFPs) and eight stabilization centers for malnourished children with life-threatening medical complications. Of the 191,751 people we screened for malnutrition in 2023, 76% were children under 5. Of those, thousands were malnourished. We treated 5,577 people in OTPs and 5,845 in TSFPs, including 4,496 children under 5 and 1,349 pregnant or nursing mothers. Working with local partners and community volunteers, we also provide awareness sessions for mothers on the importance of breastfeeding, dietary diversification using local foods, safe food preparation and nutritional support for mothers and children. In 2023, we reached 66,543 people with nutrition education.

Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH)

Many communities in Sudan experience sub-standard water quality and insufficient quantity—17.3 million people lack access to basic drinking water, while about 24 million lack access to proper sanitation facilities. Influxes of refugees and internally displaced persons (IDPs) frequently strain host communities and camp water-collection and sanitation systems. By expanding access to clean water, creating proper waste-disposal systems and providing safe sanitation facilities, we restore and protect healthy living conditions.

In Sudan, we implement WASH activities as part of health and nutrition interventions. These include:

• promotion of and education about good hygiene practices;
• creation of waste disposal facilities and safe practices;
• chlorination, rehabilitation and maintenance of water points;
• construction and rehabilitation of drainage canals and latrines; and
• improvement of WASH, as well as infection prevention and control, in health facilities.

In 2023, we constructed or rehabilitated 12 water points for IDPs and vulnerable host communities and reached 57,791 people with information about the need for safe hygiene practices and other WASH activities.

Capacity Building

The health system’s limited capacity and response mechanisms have severely weakened Sudan’s ability to provide adequate healthcare. Strengthening the capacity of health staff, largely through training, helps communities move toward sustainability and self-reliance.

Since arriving in Sudan in 2004, we have trained thousands of local and national medical personnel, including traditional birth attendants and community leaders. In 2023, we trained 928 people, providing them with skills that include:

• maternal and newborn healthcare;
• emergency obstetric and newborn care;
• rationed use of essential drugs;
• prevention and treatment of common communicable and non-communicable diseases;
• reproductive-health and early-childhood care;
• identification and management of common childhood illnesses;
• nutritional screening, and treatment and prevention of malnutrition;
• outbreak preparedness and response-management care;
• infection prevention and control; and
• community-based feedback and response mechanisms.

The expertise of these providers is crucial to integrating healthcare services into the community. Their skills also provide the continuity of care needed to stabilize fragile healthcare systems and foster long-term recovery.