Around 1,000 Killed in Sudan While Seeking Healthcare

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An international humanitarian organization has reported that nearly 1,000 people were killed in Sudan over the past six months while trying to access healthcare or visit loved ones in hospitals — a sudden and alarming rise.

In a statement issued Thursday, Save the Children said at least 933 people, including children, were killed in more than 38 incidents during the first half of 2025, according to data from the World Health Organization.

This figure is nearly 60 times the number of deaths reported during the same period last year.

The statement added that more than 148 people were injured in attacks on healthcare facilities during the first half of 2025, nearly three times the number of injuries reported in the same timeframe last year.

Francesco Lanino, Save the Children’s Deputy Country Director for Programs and Operations in Sudan, stated:

“The number of people killed and injured in direct attacks on healthcare this year is alarmingly high. However, the greatest risk these attacks create is that families and children choose not to seek hospital services when they need them, instead turning to unsafe traditional methods.”

He continued:

“We are deeply concerned that the hospitals bombed in most cases are the only remaining facilities in those areas, pushing healthcare out of reach for millions, including displaced people. With at least 80% of hospitals in Sudan destroyed by the conflict, every effort must be made to protect the few remaining facilities still providing services.”

The deadly attacks have targeted clinics, major hospitals, ambulances, and medical convoys, while the looting of drug and medical supply warehouses has placed even more people at risk in a country where half the population — 30.4 million people — need humanitarian assistance.

Save the Children reported that the number of attacks on healthcare has been high since the conflict erupted in April 2023, but the sudden spike in casualties this year is especially concerning, with nearly four times as many deaths as in both 2023 and 2024 combined.

In addition to direct attacks on hospitals, the looting of medical supplies has deepened the suffering of millions in Sudan. Among the stolen items were ready-to-use therapeutic foods — an essential treatment for children with severe acute malnutrition — taken from UNICEF’s supplies at Al-Bashair Hospital in Sudan’s capital, Khartoum, in March, as well as from Save the Children facilities.