Aid Cuts Force Closure of Dozens of Health Facilities in Sudan

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Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) has confirmed that health facilities across Sudan have begun closing their doors due to "wide-ranging cuts in international humanitarian aid funding," depriving millions of people of lifesaving healthcare and forcing patients to travel longer and more dangerous distances to access treatment. The organization has appealed to world leaders to secure the funding needed to provide essential healthcare.

In a statement issued on Tuesday, MSF said the ongoing war in Sudan is driving health needs to unprecedented levels, while declining funding is shrinking the humanitarian response and forcing clinics and health centres that rely on external support for medicines and essential services to close.

MSF called on governments, donors and international institutions to protect funding for essential health services in Sudan and provide flexible, sustained transitional financing for facilities and organizations at risk of shutting down.

The organization said the withdrawal of aid agencies, combined with a lack of funding and medicines at local clinics, is forcing patients to seek care at a limited number of facilities that remain operational, increasing pressure on them and pushing them to the limits of their capacity.

Between January and April 2026, admissions to MSF-supported facilities in Zalingei and Rokero in Central Darfur increased by 22.5 percent compared with the same period last year. The situation deteriorated further in May, when 45 general healthcare centres in Central Darfur stopped receiving support after the organization that had been providing resources was unable to secure the necessary funding.

"The war is driving needs in Sudan, while funding cuts are shrinking the response," said Muhammad Ibrahim, MSF head of mission in Sudan.

He added that MSF’s work in Sudan is privately funded, but when funding for other health services disappears, "clinics close, patients have fewer places to go, and pressure shifts to the facilities that remain, including ours."

Facility Closures Increase Patients’ Burden

In Tanedba camp in Gedaref State, which hosts around 18,400 refugees, the sudden departure of a humanitarian organization in June led to the closure of the camp’s maternity and surgical wards. Pregnant women requiring Caesarean sections now face journeys of around three hours to reach the nearest city. MSF has stepped in to run the camp’s emergency room through the end of 2026.

At Um Rakuba camp in Gedaref State, around 35 aid organizations were working in and around the camp in 2021. Today, fewer than 10 remain. The camp currently hosts around 17,000 refugees, most of them women and children.

Fabrizio Locuratolo, MSF humanitarian affairs manager, said the organization’s hospital in Um Rakuba had become the "only lifeline" for refugees and the local Sudanese community. He warned that the cuts extend beyond healthcare, with food rations shrinking and protection programmes being dismantled, removing the remaining safety nets for refugees.

Shrinking International Aid

MSF said the US government’s decision to close the US Agency for International Development (USAID) in 2025 led to the termination of grants for many organizations working in Sudan in June 2026. Although the United States remains Sudan’s largest donor, providing funding to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) and other organizations, many healthcare providers have been unable to secure alternative funding to maintain their services, resulting in the closure of health facilities.

This has coincided with cuts by several European governments to their assistance for people in Sudan, amid a broader decline in European and multilateral aid budgets worldwide.

According to preliminary data from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), aid from EU institutions fell by 13.8 percent in 2025, while several major European donors also reduced their overall aid spending.

Globally, humanitarian aid fell by 35.8 percent. MSF said these figures do not necessarily reflect equivalent cuts to Sudan, as some European donors have maintained or increased their support. However, they point to a sharply contracting international funding environment, compounding Sudan’s already severe health crisis as specific funding withdrawals and programme closures reduce access to care.

"Closing a clinic does not remove a single patient. It just sends them to the next facility," said Sebastián Traficante, MSF emergency coordinator in Darfur.

He said patients often arrive in more serious condition after longer and more expensive journeys, only to find hospitals already operating at capacity. While MSF can reinforce some services, he said, it "cannot absorb every closure."

Rising Malnutrition and Disease

In Hamidiya displacement camp in Central Darfur, a health centre that previously provided maternity, paediatric and mental health services is now operating at sharply reduced capacity after an international aid organization ended its support.

Daily patient visits have fallen from around 200 to just 40, while vaccination services have stopped. MSF said the decline does not mean that residents have become healthier, but rather that many have stopped making the journey to a centre that can no longer provide the services they need.

In Tawila, where around 50 non-governmental organizations are present, major gaps remain in services for up to 600,000 displaced people. MSF operates the area’s only 200-bed hospital and is the only organization capable of mounting a large-scale epidemic response.

MSF said malaria and malnutrition cases are rising despite limited rainfall, ahead of the peak of the rainy season. In August, its inpatient therapeutic feeding centre admitted 191 children under five suffering from severe acute malnutrition, while nearly 22 percent also tested positive for malaria.

These developments come amid a large-scale humanitarian crisis facing a severe funding shortfall. According to the United Nations, around 825,000 children under five are expected to suffer from severe acute malnutrition, while 19.5 million people faced crisis-level hunger earlier this year.

At the same time, the UN’s 2.87 billion humanitarian response plan has received only around 41 percent of the funding required, while an estimated 37 percent of Sudan’s health facilities are completely out of service.