The war that erupted in Sudan on 15 April 2023 has generated one of the biggest humanitarian crises of our time. In Khartoum, where fighting has remained persistent, access to care – including basic paediatric care – is incredibly difficult. Most health facilities have closed, and many specialised personnel have fled the country.

Against this backdrop, in March 2024, we opened a Paediatric Outpatient Clinic within the Salam Centre complex, to provide essential care for children up to the age of 14.

The Outpatient Clinic has a triage area, two clinics, an observation and stabilisation room with four beds, a pharmacy and a laboratory.

The team, composed mainly of Sudanese staff, includes a medical officer, an emergency medicine specialist, a paediatrician and nurses. Health promoters work with medical staff to educate parents and caregivers on children’s health and nutrition.

Program Data

Location: Khartoum, Sudan

Start of clinical activities: March 2024

Activities: Pediatrics, primary healthcare

Even if only in part, this new Paediatric Outpatient Clinic will try to respond to the enormous needs of the paediatric population in the areas around the capital that have been most severely affected since the beginning of the conflict.

Manuela Valenti, head of EMERGENCY’s Paediatric Division

Some colleagues at the new Outpatient Clinic were previously working in the Paediatric Centre in the Mayo refugee camp, which is temporarily closed due to complex security conditions.

Children and War: A Health Catastrophe in Sudan

Throughout Sudan, about 14 million children are in need of humanitarian assistance. About four million children are internally displaced within the country, or refugees who have crossed the border.

The health situation is concerning:

• Over 700,000 children suffering from severe acute malnutrition, the most lethal form, are at risk of not surviving without necessary medical care
• Over 3 million children under the age of five suffer from acute malnutrition
• 7 million infants are at risk of not receiving life-saving vaccinations

Data: OCHA, UNICEF