♦ Sudan: This week’s news in brief ♦

A compact digest of this week's most-read highlights, from the heart of Sudan. Subscribe to receive this digest weekly in your inbox.

Medics raise alarm on medicine shortages in Sudan

April 15 – 2021 KHARTOUM According to the Socialist Doctors' Association, 58 per cent of essential medicines, including life-saving medicines, are not available anymore in Sudan. In a statement on April 5, the Socialist Doctors Association said that the health system in the country has collapsed. The extremely poor medicine supply services “herald a catastrophic situation”.

The doctors state that the government's reluctance to pay for the provision of medicines to the National Fund for Medical Supplies in the two first months this year is “directly reflected in the lack of dialysis materials, medicines needed for cancer treatments, narcotics, and remedies for mental and neurological disorders”.

Most of the medicines are imported, and therefore have to be paid with hard currency that still remains scarce. In July last year, the Pharmaceutical Professionals Alliance painted a bleak picture of the availability of medicines in the country, as the volume of imported medicines during the past six months fell to nine per cent of the medications required in the country.

West Darfur Masalit reject outcomes of mediation by El Burhan

April 16 – 2021 EL GENEINA Displaced Masalit in the West Darfur capital El Geneina reject the decisions of the mediation between their leaders and those of the Arab tribes in the region.

Fierce fighting between Masalit tribesmen and members of various Arab tribes erupted in El Geneina on April 3. At least 144 people were killed.

On Monday, a high-level delegation, chaired by Lt Gen Abdelfattah El Burhan, conducted two separate meetings with Masalit and Arab leaders. The next day, the government delegation announced a set of instructions, including a review of the town’s security plan and the formation of a reserve force to face emergencies.

Masalit displaced however denounced “the policies of bargaining carried out by native administration leaders appointed by the government”. As the problem is “not tribal”, but “a criminal case”, the Rule of Law must be applied. In addition, the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) should be immediately removed from West Darfur, as they are “the main cause of the violence”.

Sudan calls on UN Security Council to break GERD negotiations deadlock
April 20 – 2021 KHARTOUM The Sudanese transitional government has called on the UN Security Council to intervene to help break the current negotiations deadlock between Egypt, Ethiopia, and Sudan regarding the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam …
 
Protests against neglect of martyrs' bodies in Sudanese morgues
April 20 – 2021 KHARTOUM
In Khartoum, protesters continued their sit-in in front of a Hospital for the second day in a row yesterday in protest against the decomposition of around 190 bodies in the hospital’s morgue. Some bodies are likely to be of people …

Lethal clashes and attacks in Sudan states
April 19 – 2021 KHARTOUM Three people, including a policeman, were killed and others were wounded in clashes in the area of Heglig, White Nile state, on Saturday after police seized a large number of livestock. Protestors blocked the …

Oxygen shortage forces Sudan hospitals to move patients between states
April 19 – 2021 KHARTOUM A shortage of oxygen at hospitals in Sudan is compelling medical facilities to transfer patients between states, the federal Ministry of Health has confirmed. Dr Montasir Osman, Deputy Director of the …
 
Tuberculosis on the rise in Sudan
April 17 – 2021 KHARTOUM The Sudanese Ministry of Health has sounded the alarm about the growing number of tuberculosis cases in the country. The cumulative number of COVID-19 cases since the start of the pandemic in Sudan …
 
Sudan authorities warn of spread of COVID-19 during Ramadan prayers
April 15 – 2021 KHARTOUM / WAD MADANI The Sudanese Minister of Religious Affairs and Endowments has requested all Muslim worshipers in the country to keep to social distancing. The number of COVID-19 cases is growing in …
 
Third wave of COVID-19 infections in Sudan shuts schools in El Gedaref
April 14 – 2021 EL GEDAREF / KHARTOUM All schools have been closed in Sudan’s El Gedaref state since yesterday and will remain shut until further notice. The state Ministry of Education said that this decision was because of …