Africa bore the brunt of the world’s most severe humanitarian emergencies over the past year, facing escalating conflict, disease outbreaks, and a sharp decline in international aid. According to the 2025 year in review report released by Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), massive global funding slashes, driven by the closure of USAID and funding freezes from the United States, have pushed the continent’s fragile healthcare systems to a breaking point.
MSF highlighted Sudan as the world’s worst humanitarian crisis, following two years of relentless conflict between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the Rapid Support Forces. The health system has completely collapsed amidst widespread ethnic cleansing, horrific sexual violence, and severe malnutrition, forcing hundreds of thousands of people to flee into neighbouring Chad and South Sudan. Bureaucratic hurdles and extreme violence continue to block the delivery of vital medical supplies, leading to a severe surge in measles cases due to disrupted vaccine distributions.
The crisis has severely impacted neighbouring South Sudan, which is battling internal instability alongside the influx of refugees. The country has been stretched by the largest cholera epidemic in its history, chronic medication shortages, and repeated direct attacks on healthcare workers and medical facilities.
Further south, the long-running conflict in the northeastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) intensified as the M23 armed group advanced through North and South Kivu provinces, sparking fresh waves of displacement. Security across the region has deteriorated significantly, with multiple humanitarian workers losing their lives.
The reduction of international assistance has forced MSF to step in with unplanned financial interventions across the continent. In Somalia, aid disruptions halted shipments of therapeutic milk, causing a 73% surge in severely malnourished children admitted to clinics. In the DRC, MSF had to make emergency purchases of antiretroviral medicines and post-exposure prophylaxis kits for survivors of sexual violence after the dismantling of USAID abruptly cancelled previously secured supply orders.
Despite these immense operational challenges, MSF reported major medical breakthroughs on the continent regarding paediatric tuberculosis. Data from the organisation’s TACTiC project showed that newly implemented diagnostic algorithms successfully doubled the number of children starting life-saving treatment, though the sustainability of the programme remains threatened by ongoing global funding deficits for diagnostics.
–ChannelAfrica–
