Sudan: closed and reopened the university hospital in the south of Khartoum supported by Médecins Sans Frontières

ROME – In Bashair University Hospital in south Khartoum, an emergency surgical team of Doctors Without Borders (MSF), together with Sudanese staff and a network of volunteers, treated 240 trauma patients, performing surgeries every day non-stop, 24 hours a day. Many wounded arrived at the hospital with gunshot wounds or injuries caused by explosions or ongoing air strikes in urban areas of the capital. When hostilities broke out on 15 April, the hospital was forced to close temporarily while other health facilities, including in other parts of the country, were seriously damaged or struggled to remain operational due to a shortage of personnel fleeing conflict or movement difficulties.

We work despite the risks. “Doctors and nurses, but also the youngest of the communities, decided to try to restart the hospital after it was closed and staff left for safety reasons – says Will Harper, MSF emergency coordinator in Sudan – when the surgical team reached the area south of Khartoum, we found a hospital where people are working hard and despite the risks.We joined them and acted side by side to bring healthcare and surgical care lifesaver for the population”. “When we arrived, the situation was chaotic – added Hisham Eid, MSF doctor – the hospital was not operational and a few doctors and volunteers were doing their best to assist a large number of patients, despite the shortage of all kinds of supplies, including electricity. Now the situation is improving and we are able to efficiently serve many patients.”

Many wounded by gunshots and stab wounds. Since the MSF team started working in the hospital on 9 May, more than 240 surgeries have been performed, including about four major surgeries a day. “We’ve seen many patients with gunshot and stab wounds who were in very critical condition and would not have survived without surgery,” says Dr. Shahzid Majeed, MSF surgeon. “We are talking about injuries to the chest, abdomen, liver, spleen, kidneys, intestines, but also vascular reconstruction operations without which the patient would have died or lost a limb”.

It’s hard to keep working. It is very difficult to ensure that the surgical team and medical staff have the necessary supplies to continue providing life-saving medical care. MSF and other organizations have donated medical supplies to hospitals in Khartoum and other areas, drawing on stocks already in the country. Logistical and administrative delays for new supplies in Sudan now pose a serious challenge. Fuel for the generators is a major necessity, as the electricity supply is intermittent to say the least.

The daily challenge: infection control. “We have managed to improve the quality of care and work of the local staff. Now we perform surgeries every day non-stop. In addition to the numerous surgeries, we have also increased post-operative care, infection control, which are a daily challenge in any hospital and are even more so when water, electricity and medical supplies are limited” concludes MSF’s Harper. With the conflict unabated, more medical supplies and health personnel need to reach areas of greatest need, to save more lives and ensure that the injured have access to much-needed medical care.

MSF in Sudan. The medical-surgical activity in Khartoum is just one of the many interventions that MSF is currently carrying out in the capital, North Darfur, West Darfur, Central Darfur, Al-Jazeera, Blue Nile State, Gedaref State , including the support of hospitals and health centers and the management of mobile clinics, providing basic necessities and carrying out interventions related to water and sanitation. MSF is committed to staying in Sudan and continuing to provide medical and humanitarian assistance to those affected by this crisis.