KHARTOUM: The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has called for a ceasefire in Sudan to be fully respected amid reports of the country’s collapse and the paralysis of its health sector due to fighting.
The country’s water and electricity infrastructure have been severely damaged, and most hospitals in the capital are no longer functioning. According to the World Health Organization, only 16 percent of the health infrastructure in the capital Khartoum is still operational.
Drug shortages are being reported throughout the country, and doctors and nurses cannot access hospitals or their facilities because of the security situation.
ICRC relocates field teams in Sudan
In response, the ICRC has reorganized and relocated its field teams, but the situation remains serious. An eight-ton shipment of relief supplies, including medical equipment, has arrived in Port Sudan from Amman, Jordan, but the ICRC has been unable to distribute the shipment because of the unpredictable security situation.
The ICRC has appealed “for a ceasefire on humanitarian grounds to be completely respected and for the different parties to the conflict to realize their responsibilities with regard to security guarantees, in the interests of the population”.
