Officials said there were 11 confirmed attacks on medical facilities, including 10 since April 15.
Geneva:
The World Health Organization (WHO) said 413 people have died in the current conflict in Sudan, but the United Nations Children’s Agency said children are paying a high price, with at least nine dead and more than 50 killed in the fighting. was seriously injured, Turkish News agency Anadolu reported.
WHO spokesperson Margaret Harris told a UN press conference that the conflict had killed 413 people and injured 3,551, according to government figures from Sudan.
The fighting is part of an ongoing clash between the country’s military and the militia’s Rapid Support Force (RSF).
She said there were 11 confirmed attacks on medical facilities, including 10 since April 15.
“According to Sudan’s Ministry of Health, the number of non-functioning health facilities is 20. And according to Health Ministry figures, the number of health facilities at risk of being shut down is 12,” said Harris. I’m here.
A WHO spokesperson said: “This means that all those who need care are affected. It means that it is affecting people who needed it and who are still in treatment.” , Anadolu reported.
At the same press conference, UNICEF spokesperson James Elder said, “Clearly, as always, the fighting is taking a devastating toll on children.
“There are now reports that at least nine children have been killed and at least 50 injured, and that number will continue to rise as long as the fighting continues,” he added.
The elder said many people were trapped and had no access to electricity, Anadolu reported.
“They are afraid of running out of food, water and medicine,” he said, adding, “One of our deepest concerns is about the hospital that has been on fire.”
The elder said Sudan already has one of the highest rates of child malnutrition in the world.
A UNICEF spokesperson said: “Now, critical aid to protect the lives of some 50,000 children is at risk.
The fighting is also jeopardizing Sudan’s “cold chain,” which includes US$40 million worth of vaccines and insulin, due to power supply interruptions and the inability to replenish fuel to generators, Elder said.
UNICEF is also reporting on children taking refuge in secondary schools and care centers raging around them, as well as children’s hospitals that have been forced to evacuate as the shelling approaches, Anadolu reported.
Elder said that before violence erupted in Sudan, the humanitarian needs of children in the country were high, with an estimated three-quarters of children living in extreme poverty. .
At the same time, 11.5 million children and community members needed urgent water and sanitation services, 7 million children were out of school and more than 600,000 suffered from severe acute malnutrition.
Fighting broke out between the Sudanese army and the militia’s Rapid Support Force (RSF) in and around the capital Khartoum last Saturday, Anadolu reported.
In Sudan, the government has been non-functioning since October 2021, when the military overthrew Prime Minister Abdallah Hamdok’s interim government and declared a state of emergency that political forces called a “coup.”