In the heart of Sudan’s war-torn capital, the struggle to keep the most vulnerable alive is playing out in overcrowded hospital wards where resources are dwindling by the day. At Alban Jadeed Hospital in Bahri’s Sharg Elnil district, mothers weakened by hunger cradle severely malnourished children, their frail bodies bearing the brunt of a conflict that has crippled the nation’s healthcare system and severed critical aid lifelines. Two years into a brutal war, sparked in April 2023 by a power struggle between the Sudanese army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), medics find themselves fighting not only disease and starvation but also the limits of what little aid they receive.
Sudan’s humanitarian crisis, now described by the United Nations as the world’s largest and most devastating, has plunged about half of the country’s 50 million people into acute hunger. Famine conditions have been officially confirmed in at least five regions, including North Darfur in the west, but healthcare workers on the ground warn that the true scale of the disaster remains unknown. Ongoing fighting has made it impossible to collect accurate data in many areas, leaving a void in understanding the full extent of suffering. In Khartoum and its surrounding cities of Omdurman and Bahri, divided by the Nile, both the army and RSF have blocked vital aid and commercial supply routes, forcing prices of essential goods beyond what most people can afford.
Within Alban Jadeed Hospital, the statistics are staggering and grim. In 2023 alone, over 14,000 children under five were admitted with severe acute malnutrition, and an additional 12,000 with a less severe but still dangerous form. Only a small fraction—just 600 children—were found to be at a healthy weight. Despite the massive need, medical staff like Azza Babiker, head of the therapeutic nutrition department, are forced to ration therapeutic milk and other nutritional products due to insufficient supplies. The limited aid that does arrive, mainly through UNICEF and Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), is not enough to meet demand. Making matters worse, Babiker reported that RSF forces stole the hospital’s supplies on two occasions, further straining the ability to treat young patients.
The situation is exacerbated by a sharp drop in funding from international donors, particularly the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), which has traditionally supported key nutritional programs and community kitchens. As these sources of aid dwindle, medics worry that mortality rates will rise. The recent military recapture of the Sharg Elnil district by government forces has not eased the hardship; fruit and vegetables are scarce, and most families can no longer afford them even when available.
Mothers are facing their own harrowing struggles. Many have stopped producing breast milk due to trauma and malnutrition, leaving infants with no source of nourishment. Dr. Raneen Adel recounted cases where mothers, having witnessed or endured violence at the hands of RSF fighters, arrived at the hospital unable to feed their children, their milk supply having dried up due to fear or injury. In the absence of adequate nutrition, children are also falling prey to other health complications, including blood poisoning and infections. But even here, doctors face an uphill battle, as stocks of antibiotics and other critical medicines have run out.
As the conflict grinds on with no clear end in sight, the medical staff at Alban Jadeed and other hospitals across Sudan continue to work under impossible conditions, trying to save lives with a trickle of aid and the resilience of a people determined to survive.
