At the beginning of this month, the Ministry of Health in Khartoum State announced the reopening of 41 hospitals and 243 health centres distributed across the state’s seven localities. It also directed the reactivation of specialized hospitals at a time when the number of returnees to Khartoum State continues to rise following the withdrawal of the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) between May and January 2026. According to the Displacement Tracking Matrix, Khartoum State has witnessed the highest rate of return, with 1,397,490 individuals going back to their homes after being displaced since the outbreak of war in Sudan.
Healthcare distribution in Khartoum is driven by population density, not administrative geography.
Atar correspondent, based on field monitoring
Field monitoring conducted by an Atar correspondent revealed that the distribution of healthcare services within the city of Khartoum is driven less by administrative geography than by population density. In South Khartoum—where population density has surged due to displacement and gradual returns—there is a relative improvement in the availability of medical personnel and pharmaceutical supplies, as well as greater operational readiness in hospitals to receive patients, compared to East and Central Khartoum, which currently record lower population densities. This disparity reflects a state-level strategy that prioritizes limited resources for the most densely populated areas while scaling back or postponing interventions in less densely inhabited zones.
The machinery of war has devastated hospitals, health centers and critical infrastructure across Sudanese cities, particularly in Khartoum State, where between 70 and 80 percent of medical facilities were rendered non-operational, according to official estimates and international organizations. Hospitals were transformed into battlefields; many were shelled and looted, and healthcare services collapsed across most of the state. This occurred against the backdrop of an already fragile health system.
A joint report published in December 2024 by the Sudanese American Physicians Association (SAPA) and the Humanitarian Research Lab at the Yale School of Public Health documented extensive damage to hospital infrastructure in Khartoum State since the war began in April 2023. Drawing on local experts, open-source data and satellite imagery, the report found that 41 of the state’s 87 hospitals sustained damage within the first 500 days of the conflict, between April 15, 2023, and August 26, 2024. The damage affected more than 711,000 patients, with nearly half of the impacted facilities providing primary healthcare services.
Seventy percent of documented damage incidents occurred in 2023, concentrated in the most densely populated areas—particularly Khartoum and Omdurman—which together account for nearly two-thirds of the affected hospitals. The war disrupted essential health services, emergency departments, outpatient clinics, inpatient wards, operating theaters and pediatric intensive care units. Approximately 70 percent of the state’s teaching hospitals sustained varying degrees of damage.
Return and challenges
Atar’s correspondent traveled from Khartoum Bahri to the Federal Ministry of Health headquarters in Khartoum. At the ministry’s premises—where operations were officially relocated last June—the Director of the Media Department stated that rehabilitation is underway at Al-Shab Hospital, Ibrahim Malik Hospital, the Dental Hospital, Jabra Emergency and Trauma Hospital and Khartoum Teaching Hospital. He noted that there is currently no direct coordination between the ministry and private hospitals regarding their return to service; the ministry’s role is limited to issuing operational permits once a facility completes the necessary arrangements for reopening.
At Ibn Sina Hospital in the Al-Amarat neighbourhood—recently restored to service following rehabilitation supported by Khartoum State and the Higher Committee for Preparing the Environment for Return—the hospital’s director, Dr. Mohamed Idris, outlined the current challenges, available services and the readiness of medical and technical staff to receive patients.
Dr. Idris told an Atar correspondent that the hospital sustained severe damage during the RSF’s control of city neighbourhoods, including the complete destruction of the nurses’ residence and structural cracks in several buildings. The most significant loss, however, was the disappearance of medical equipment—particularly endoscopy units and specialized radiology machines—critical for advanced diagnostic and therapeutic services. He added that the hospital is currently operating on a partial basis, with specialized outpatient clinics providing daily services.
While acknowledging a shortage of certain personnel due to the migration of medical professionals, Dr. Idris noted that the overwhelming majority of medical and technical staff have returned, contributing to a measure of service stability. Although the operating theaters and dialysis unit remain suspended, the departments of gastroenterology and hepatobiliary surgery, nephrology and kidney transplantation, and ENT surgery are functioning at what he described as a satisfactory level. The hospital faces no electricity shortages, relying on generators and a solar power system.
He emphasized that the principal challenge lies in replacing looted or destroyed medical equipment, alongside ensuring the stability of qualified staff capable of operating these systems efficiently. Significant efforts are underway at both federal and state levels, in coordination with the Higher Committee for Preparing the Environment for Return to Khartoum, to compensate for equipment losses—particularly in critical departments.
Bashair and Al-Zarrah hospitals: No statements
Security incidents occurred around the hospital, including threats to staff, before authorities intervened.
Abdalla Abu Bakr, former staff member, Bashair University Hospital
Atar’s correspondent attempted to visit Bashair University Hospital in southern Khartoum—one of the few facilities that continued operating, to the extent possible, throughout the clashes. However, the ministry’s Media director indicated that an official permit would be required.
Earlier, Abdalla Abu Bakr, who worked at Bashair University Hospital during the clashes, told Atar that the damage there had been limited to the looting of some doors and equipment, while the building structure remained intact and medical devices were neither damaged nor stolen before the hospital was eventually closed due to violence and repeated assaults by RSF forces on medical staff.
Dr Abu Bakr explained that the hospital resumed operations in May 2025, following the RSF’s withdrawal from the city, through joint efforts by Al-Neelain University and the Ministry of Health, with additional support from Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), which provided financial assistance to staff, ensured adequate pharmaceutical supplies and secured electricity through the installation of generators and fuel provision. Administratively and academically affiliated with Al-Neelain University, the hospital relies primarily on university medical staff, supplemented by external personnel.
Departmental operations resumed gradually after the SAF regained control of Khartoum, beginning with a cholera isolation center in response to an outbreak at the time. As cases subsided, the unit was converted into a broader infectious disease isolation center, followed by the reopening of emergency, internal medicine, pediatrics, surgery, and obstetrics and gynecology departments.
Abu Bakr noted that the hospital initially refrained from admitting long-term cases due to staffing shortages, stabilizing patients before transferring them to hospitals in Omdurman for continued treatment. A pediatric nutrition department and neonatal unit were later inaugurated.
He further observed that medical personnel faced mobility challenges in the months immediately following the RSF’s departure, owing to fragile security conditions. Security incidents occurred around the hospital, including gunfire and threats directed at staff by an armed individual. Government authorities subsequently intervened to provide security protection. He affirmed that the hospital is now operating at an excellent level, with all departments fully functional.
Atar was unable to secure an interview with the director of Khartoum Oncology Hospital (Al-Zarrah), after the administrative director declined to authorize access, stating that only the hospital’s director is empowered to speak to the press. He is currently outside Sudan attending meetings of the International Atomic Energy Agency.
From observations inside the facility, however, an Atar correspondent confirmed that the hospital has resumed services following the completion of rehabilitation works. It is receiving patients and delivering treatment in a regular and orderly manner. The hospital recently announced the arrival of a shipment of chemotherapy drugs to its warehouses. The Director General, Dr. Ahmed Omar, stated that the administration is working to secure a full range of chemotherapy agents and other essential treatments.
Health centres
During a field tour, an Atar correspondent met with Wisaal Ali Ahmed, Medical Director of Samir Reference Health Center in the Al-Imtidad neighbourhood, south Khartoum. She explained that while the building itself was spared structural destruction during the war, medical equipment, supplies and furnishings were completely looted, creating a severe equipment deficit.
The center is currently operating with only two nurses, supported by local collaborators and volunteers from the neighbourhood—an arrangement that significantly constrains service delivery. Despite these limitations, Dr. Wisaal noted that the center continues to provide routine laboratory diagnostics (including malaria, blood and typhoid testing), midwifery services, a pediatric clinic and an in-house pharmacy that suffers from shortages of chronic disease medications. Electricity is supplied through a solar power system installed by UNICEF.
A nurse at the center told Atar that rising malaria cases have placed additional pressure on the facility, creating an urgent need for intravenous fluids and essential medicines.
In Burri, east Khartoum, an Atar correspondent met Dr. Abbas Al-Tayyib, director of Al-Sadiq Abu Aqla Health Center, which resumed operations in mid-May after a prolonged wartime closure, once again serving residents of Burri and Al-Jereif West. Dr. Abbas explained that the center houses nutrition and immunization units, an optical clinic, laboratory services, minor surgery facilities, a pharmacy and separate male and female inpatient wards. The medical workforce is nearly complete, combining formally appointed staff and volunteers, contributing to relative service stability.
Nonetheless, the center lacks essential diagnostic equipment—including ECG machines, radiology, ultrasound devices and dialysis equipment—all of which had been available prior to the outbreak of war.
Dr. Abbas told Atar that treatments are provided free of charge. Saturday has been designated as a weekly free treatment day, while nutrition and immunization services remain free throughout the week, as do services for children under five, pregnant women and emergency cases. Pharmaceutical supply relies primarily on community-driven initiatives, supplemented by limited support from the Ministry of Health, with persistent shortages in chronic disease medications. The center operates on solar power due to ongoing electricity outages, and water is secured through community efforts. Most critical cases are referred to hospitals in East Nile, though the absence of reliable transportation and nighttime ambulance services presents a major operational challenge.
Pharmaceutical distribution
Of 2,758 pharmacies in the state, 1,432 have resumed operations, with drug availability estimated at about 85 percent.
Dr Suhair Al Tayyib
At the Federal Ministry of Health headquarters in central Khartoum, Atar interviewed Dr. Suhair Al-Tayyib, Director of the Pharmacy Department at the Khartoum State Ministry of Health. She described the post-war pharmaceutical situation as severely compromised. Destruction extended to both fixed and mobile assets, including the warehouse of the National Medical Supplies Fund, compounded by the migration of medical personnel. As a result, drug stocks in the state fell to zero during the early months of the war, forcing the ministry to rely on supplies from other states.
Dr. Suhair disclosed that publicly circulated loss figures are inaccurate. Of 2,758 pharmacies in the state, 1,432 have resumed operations, with drug availability currently estimated at approximately 85 percent. She explained that the present distribution strategy prioritizes population density rather than demand volume, urging health centers to provide precise household data to ensure coverage.
She identified UNICEF, Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), the Sudanese American Physicians Association (SAPA), Islamic Relief and other organizations as key pharmaceutical supporters. The shutdown of pharmaceutical factories in Khartoum directly disrupted supply chains, prompting the National Medicines and Poisons Board to open the door to imports in order to bridge the gap. The central challenge now lies in closing remaining shortages, ensuring full coverage amid population growth and establishing pharmaceutical supply centers in every locality to prevent future disruptions.
Voices from the public
An Atar correspondent conducted interviews with residents across various localities in Khartoum to document public perceptions of the health situation.
From Al-Imtidad, resident Salwa Farah reported a gradual restoration of electricity, with maintenance teams working across most residential blocks and power already restored in several areas. She pointed to the absence of mosquito control campaigns and environmental sanitation measures, despite the spread of dengue fever and malaria during the last rainy season. She received treatment at Samir Health Center, where a general consultation cost 4,000 Sudanese pounds and a malaria test 3,000 pounds.
In Al-Kalakla, within Jabal Awliya locality, resident Abu Dijana described conditions as comparatively more stable, with electricity available in most neighbourhoods. He said health centers are functioning well, recounting that he took his sick daughter to the “Kesho” Center in East Al-Kalakla, which allocates one free treatment day per week. He also referenced the Martyr Naji Medical Center, which offers free consultations, short-term inpatient care and even meals for patients. The center receives support from an external organization, contributing to the relative stability of its pharmaceutical supply.
