Khartoum: Nearly 1,000 people have been killed in Sudan this year while seeking health care or visiting hospitals, as attacks on healthcare facilities have nearly tripled, exacerbating a cholera outbreak, according to Save the Children.
Save the Children analysis, based on reports from the World Health Organization, indicates that at least 933 people, including children, were killed in over 38 incidents in the first half of 2025. This figure is nearly 60 times higher than the number of deaths reported during the same period last year.
In the first six months of 2025, over 148 people sustained injuries in attacks on healthcare facilities, almost tripling the number from the same period in the previous year. Notably, in January, an attack on the Saudi Hospital in El Fasher, North Darfur, resulted in the deaths of one girl and three boys, with three other boys injured.
The escalation in attacks coincides with a worsening cholera outbreak, with 80,000 confirmed cases, including over 1,000 children under five and more than 2,000 deaths reported nationwide since the outbreak began two months ago. The looting of medical supplies, including essential therapeutic food for malnutrition treatment, further aggravates the crisis, with incidents of theft reported at Al Bashair Hospital in Khartoum and Save the Children facilities.
Save the Children is actively working to increase the availability of life-saving supplies, particularly ready-to-use therapeutic food (RUTF), crucial for treating severe acute malnutrition in children. However, RUTF stocks are critically low, and Sudan faces potential global supply chain disruptions due to aid cuts.
Francesco Lanino, Deputy Country Director of Programmes and Operations for Save the Children in Sudan, emphasized the dire situation, stating that healthcare workers should not fear for their safety while providing services, and patients should not have to worry about their safety when seeking care. The high number of casualties from direct attacks on healthcare facilities poses a significant risk, causing families and children to avoid seeking necessary medical services.
With 80% of hospitals in Sudan affected by the conflict, the few remaining facilities are vital for providing healthcare to millions, including displaced individuals. Save the Children is calling on the international community to intensify efforts to demand a ceasefire, ensuring safe humanitarian access and increasing humanitarian assistance, including securing safe passage for food, medical aid, and critical nutrition interventions.
Operating in Sudan since 1983, Save the Children continues to support children and families across the country, offering health, nutrition, education, child protection, and food security and livelihoods support. The organization also aids Sudanese refugees in Egypt and South Sudan.