{"id":30933,"date":"2026-04-06T19:37:39","date_gmt":"2026-04-06T17:37:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/?post_type=news&#038;p=30933"},"modified":"2026-04-06T19:37:39","modified_gmt":"2026-04-06T17:37:39","slug":"doctors-in-sudan-forced-into-impossible-choices-as-violence-drives-mass-displacement","status":"publish","type":"news","link":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/news\/doctors-in-sudan-forced-into-impossible-choices-as-violence-drives-mass-displacement\/","title":{"rendered":"Doctors in Sudan forced into impossible choices as violence drives mass displacement"},"content":{"rendered":"<div data-ogsc=\"rgb(0, 0, 0)\" data-olk-copy-source=\"MessageBody\">At El\u2011Obeid Maternity Hospital in neighbouring North Kordofan, staff describe dire shortages and mounting deaths as displaced families arrive in desperate need of care. \u201cWe had to watch two of the babies die before our eyes,\u201d said Dr Hasan Babikir, recounting the deaths of premature triplets. \u201cWe simply had no available intensive care beds to treat them.\u201d<\/div>\n<div data-ogsc=\"rgb(0, 0, 0)\"><\/div>\n<div data-ogsc=\"rgb(0, 0, 0)\"><\/div>\n<div data-ogsc=\"rgb(0, 0, 0)\">The hospital is the main referral maternity facility for western Sudan and is currently serving more than 230 000 displaced people, most of them women and girls. Many are fleeing violence in South Kordofan and arriving malnourished, traumatised and without access to basic healthcare.<\/div>\n<div data-ogsc=\"rgb(0, 0, 0)\"><\/div>\n<div data-ogsc=\"rgb(0, 0, 0)\"><\/div>\n<div data-ogsc=\"rgb(0, 0, 0)\">According to Babikir, the hospital is facing acute shortages of essential supplies. \u201cThere is a severe lack of equipment for both surgical and normal deliveries,\u201d he said, adding that antibiotics, surgical sutures and even basic gloves are in critically short supply. \u201cWe are often forced to buy these items from local markets at very high prices,\u201d he told the UN Population Fund (UNFPA).<\/div>\n<div data-ogsc=\"rgb(0, 0, 0)\"><\/div>\n<div data-ogsc=\"rgb(0, 0, 0)\"><\/div>\n<div data-ogsc=\"rgb(0, 0, 0)\">Health workers say the influx of displaced people has pushed the hospital beyond its limits, with maternity wards operating at full capacity and staff struggling to cope with complications linked to malnutrition, untreated infections and sexual violence.<\/div>\n<div data-ogsc=\"rgb(0, 0, 0)\"><\/div>\n<div data-ogsc=\"rgb(0, 0, 0)\"><\/div>\n<div data-ogsc=\"rgb(0, 0, 0)\">The situation has been worsened by insecurity in El\u2011Obeid itself. The city has come under repeated drone attacks, with several strikes hitting health facilities. Medical staff and patients have been killed or injured, further undermining already stretched services.<\/div>\n<div data-ogsc=\"rgb(0, 0, 0)\"><\/div>\n<div data-ogsc=\"rgb(0, 0, 0)\"><\/div>\n<div data-ogsc=\"rgb(0, 0, 0)\">Humanitarian organisations warn that attacks on hospitals are adding to the collapse of healthcare in large parts of Sudan, where fighting between rival armed forces has devastated infrastructure and cut communities off from aid. UNFPA says women and girls are bearing the brunt of the crisis, facing increased risks of maternal death, sexual violence and hunger, with few safe places to seek care.<\/div>\n<div data-ogsc=\"rgb(0, 0, 0)\"><\/div>\n<div data-ogsc=\"rgb(0, 0, 0)\"><\/div>\n<div data-ogsc=\"rgb(0, 0, 0)\">As displacement from South Kordofan continues, doctors at El\u2011Obeid say they fear more preventable deaths unless supplies, funding and protection for health facilities arrive urgently. \u201cWe are doing everything we can,\u201d Babikir said. \u201cBut without support, more lives will be lost.\u201d<\/div>\n<div data-ogsc=\"rgb(0, 0, 0)\"><\/div>\n<div data-ogsc=\"rgb(0, 0, 0)\"><\/div>\n<div data-ogsc=\"rgb(0, 0, 0)\">&#8211;UN\/ChannelAfrica&#8211;<\/div>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":29152,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false},"news-type":[78,26],"class_list":["post-30933","news","type-news","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","news-type-featured","news-type-general_news","entry"],"acf":{"short_description":"Doctors at a key maternity hospital in Sudan say they are making impossible choices as fighting in South Kordofan forces tens of thousands of people to flee, overwhelming already fragile health services.","published_date":"","news_description":"Doctors at a key maternity hospital in Sudan say they are making impossible choices as fighting in South Kordofan forces tens of thousands of people to flee, overwhelming already fragile health services.","form_embed":"","author":"","image_caption":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/30933","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/news"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/30933\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":30934,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/30933\/revisions\/30934"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/29152"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=30933"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"news-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news-type?post=30933"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}