KHARTOUM, July 3 (Xinhua) -- The non-governmental humanitarian organization Save the Children said on Thursday that 933 people were killed in attacks on health facilities in Sudan during the first half of 2025.
"At least 933 people, including children, were killed in over 38 incidents in the first six months of 2025. This is nearly 60 times the number of deaths reported over the same period a year ago," the organization said in a statement.
More than 148 people were injured in attacks on healthcare facilities in the first half of 2025, nearly three times the number recorded in the same period last year, it noted.
It added that the deadly assaults targeted clinics, health facilities, major hospitals, ambulances, and medical convoys, while looting of warehouses storing medicine and medical supplies has put more people at risk.
"The number of people killed and injured in direct attacks on healthcare this year is alarmingly too high, and yet the biggest danger posed by these attacks is families and children opting not to seek services from hospitals when in need and turning to unsafe traditional means," Francesco Lanino, deputy country director of the organization's programs and operations in Sudan, was quoted as saying in the statement.
"We are concerned that in most cases, the hospitals that have come under fire also happen to be the only remaining hospitals in those areas, putting healthcare out of reach for millions, including displaced people. With at least 80 percent of hospitals in Sudan decimated by the conflict," Lanino added.
The attacks on health facilities come at a time when Sudan's healthcare system grapples with multiple epidemics, most notably cholera, which has infected more than 83,000 people and claimed the lives of 2,121 patients since July 2024, according to the latest report from the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).
Sudan has been engulfed in a brutal conflict between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces since April 2023. The war has killed tens of thousands and forced millions to flee their homes, both within Sudan and across its borders. ■