Inside war-hit Sudan’s only functioning hospital curing tropical diseases

Omar Othman, a gold miner in northern Sudan’s Abu Hamad town, had hoped for a fresh start to life in the capital – only for those hopes to be cut short by illness.

For months, he had worked deep in the gold mines under harsh conditions, which badly affected his health. At first, the symptoms seemed minor: a cough that lingered for weeks went largely unnoticed.
But after arriving in Khartoum, it developed into a sharp chest pain that forced him to seek medical attention. He was diagnosed with pulmonary tuberculosis, one of several infectious diseases spreading in Sudan, where a three-year war between the Sudanese army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) has collapsed the African country’s health system.

At the Tropical Diseases Teaching Hospital in Omdurman, Sudan’s second largest city west of Khartoum, laboratory tests confirmed the diagnosis.
Othman told Al Jazeera that although the result left him anxious, counselling sessions and a clear explanation of the treatment plan helped ease his fears and allowed him to come to terms with his condition.

But his treatment was only the beginning, with many obstacles still ahead.

Shortage of supplies
During his first visit to hospital, Othman said he faced no difficulties. He paid a small fee for the tests and received treatment free of charge.

But on his second visit, essential medication was no longer available, forcing him to buy it privately at a high cost.
Othman told Al Jazeera that although the result left him anxious, counselling sessions and a clear explanation of the treatment plan helped ease his fears and allowed him to come to terms with his condition.

But his treatment was only the beginning, with many obstacles still ahead.

Shortage of supplies
During his first visit to hospital, Othman said he faced no difficulties. He paid a small fee for the tests and received treatment free of charge.

But on his second visit, essential medication was no longer available, forcing him to buy it privately at a high cost.
The Tropical Diseases Teaching Hospital, once a refuge for patients, now operates with limited capacity amid the wider collapse in health services across the country, with the war into its fourth year.

The Sudanese health ministry this month said 37 percent of its health facilities have been rendered non-functional due to the war, which erupted on April 15, 2023 following a power struggle between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) chief General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and the RSF leader Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, widely known as Hemedti.

The SAF currently controls much of eastern and central Sudan, including Khartoum, while the RSF controls the western Darfur region.

The World Health Organization (WHO) earlier this month verified and documented at least 217 attacks on health infrastructure in Sudan, leading to the deaths of 2,052 healthcare workers, even as some 40 percent of the country’s 52 million people require urgent medical assistance.

“Given the high rates of malnutrition, a debilitated health system and low immunisation coverage, disease outbreaks will continue to have catastrophic impacts, particularly for children,” it warned.