In Sudan, at least 28 health workers were kidnapped in six incidents in 2023
Photo for representation: iStock In Africa, the violence against healthcare staff in conflict zones was the highest in Sudan in 2023, according to a new report.
As many as 257 incidents of violence against or obstruction of healthcare were recorded in Sudan in 2023 compared to 54 in 2022, according to the report released by the Safeguarding Health in Conflict Coalition, a group of international nongovernmental organisations working to protect health workers, services, and infrastructure, in collaboration with Insecurity Insight, an academic and research institution.
In Africa, this was the highest violence against or obstruction of healthcare staff in conflict zones in 2023, showed Critical Condition: Violence against Health Care in Conflict 2023.
Within African countries, the report identified 115 incidents of violence against or obstruction of healthcare in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, 49 incidents in Burkina Faso, 41 each in the Central African Republic and Mali, 31 in Cameroon, 21 in Somalia, 19 in Nigeria, 18 in Niger, 14 in Ethiopia and 12 in South Sudan.
The cases, the authors found, were widely dispersed across 12 states of Sudan, with over half being recorded in the highly urbanised Khartoum. High number of incidents were also reported in the Darfur states and North Kordofan compared to previous years, with new cases in Gezira and West Kordofan being reported from August onwards.
Two-thirds of the incidents took place at health facilities, with at least 25 facilities reporting multiple incidents of threats and violence, the analysis showed.
At least 56 health workers were killed in 43 incidents, compared to 13 in six incidents in 2022, the researchers observed.
In Sudan, at least 28 health workers were kidnapped in six incidents in 2023, compared to five staff taken in one incident in South Kordofan in 2022.
Health workers were abducted from hospitals and their homes, often on their own or with another colleague, according to the authors of the report.
In 2023, vital medicine and equipment were looted on at least 57 occasions from health centers, medical warehouses, pharmacies and an immunisation centre in Sudan, they wrote.
In Sudan, within two weeks of the outbreak of fighting in Khartoum, 60 per cent of the health facilities were closed and after six months of fighting, 70 per cent of facilities in all conflict areas were not functioning, the researchers found.
A combination of insecurity, shortages of medical supplies, limited cash to meet operational costs and salaries as well as power outages contributed to the stress experienced by Sudan’s healthcare staff and facilities in 2023, the study showed.
The healthcare sector in Sudan is suffering greatly as a result of the conflict, with a lack of medical personnel (there are only four doctors per 10,000 citizens), essential medicines and equipment, flagged World Health Organization (WHO).
Continuing attacks on healthcare facilities, equipment and workers in Sudan are depriving women and girls of life-saving healthcare, with pregnant women hit the hardest, WHO and the United Nations Population Fund said in a release June 20, 2023.
The 11th annual report covers arrests, kidnappings, killings of health workers and damage to or destruction of health facilities in conflicts across 30 countries or territories and provides details on incidents involving threats and violence against healthcare staff in 18 countries, one administrative subdivision / region within a country and one territory that experienced conflict in 2023.
The report included detailed profiles of 20 countries and territories where many acts of violence against healthcare took place. These include Afghanistan, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, the Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, Haiti, Israel, Mali, India (only Manipur), Myanmar, Niger, Nigeria, the Occupied Palestinian Territory, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, Syria, Ukraine and Yemen.
For the 2023 report, Israel, Manipur in India and Niger were added for the first time, while Ethiopia and Haiti were included again after they were not included in 2022. Their factsheets include data for 2022 and 2023.
The report documented 2,562 incidents of violence against or obstruction of healthcare in conflict zones in 2023 — over 500 more than in 2022, a 25 per cent increase.
The increase was in part a product of intense and persistent violence against healthcare in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, Myanmar, Sudan and Ukraine.
The report called for renewed attention on the healthcare crisis in conflict zones.
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