Background

Darfur is often struck by the disastrous effects of famines, floods, epidemics (mainly measles, hepatitis, scabies, and cholera) and internal conflict, as well as the subsequent migration of its population.

Nyala, the capital of the state of South Darfur, is home to more than 800,000 people. Most have no access to basic health services.

Many people live in extreme poverty and health conditions are critical, especially for women and children. Meanwhile, shortages of medical workers and medicine make it even harder to meet local healthcare needs.

The paediatric statistics for the state of South Darfur are among the most alarming. The infant mortality rate for children under five is higher than 7%. Around 820,000 children in this age bracket do not have access to health services, even in emergency situations.

The Centre

The Paediatric Centre in Nyala provides free and high-quality paediatric care to children under 14, a malnutrition screening programme and an immunisation programme, as well as health education activities that promote maternal and child health.

We also run a programme for cardiac patients from the Salam Centre – our cardiac surgery hospital in Khartoum – that provides screenings, checks, follow-ups and medication distribution.

The Centre is equipped with three paediatric outpatient clinics, a cardiology outpatient clinic, a radiology room, a laboratory for analysis, a pharmacy and a hospital ward with 18 beds, as well as other integral facilities like the stock room, offices and kitchen.

The structure was built with a strong focus on sustainable techniques. These include an innovative air conditioning system that uses water to provide natural ventilation for the clinic, inspired by traditional methods from the northern Sahara.

The land on which the Paediatric Centre was built was provided by the state government of South Darfur.

Activities Suspended in 2011

After our colleague was kidnapped in August 2011, we were forced to suspend the clinic’s activities for security reasons.

Our colleague was freed a few months later, in December 2011.

Since then, we never stopped looking for a way to safely restart activities in Nyala, knowing how important it was to the people of South Darfur.

Once we were reassured of the essential safety conditions from the local authorities, we started the reconstruction and renovation work in August 2018. Throughout this period, a local team of non-medical staff took steps to oversee the facility and keep it running before the official reopening.

Activities Suspended in 2023

On 25 October 2023, some Sudanese staff members of the Paediatric Centre in Nyala, South Darfur, were taken from the hospital and arrested by members of the Rapid Support Forces (RSF). They were released on 30 October, but in the meantime, the Paediatric Centre had been looted.

As a result, we were forced to temporarily suspend activities: security risks and the almost total destruction of the rooms and equipment meant we could not continue to receive patients.

However, our Sudanese colleagues continued to manage the facility and within a few weeks were able to restart screenings and blood coagulation checks for cardiac patients. In April 2024, we resumed vaccination programmes and health education sessions.

At the beginning of November 2024, after months of work to restore rooms, equipment and supplies of medicines and materials, outpatient activities for children and their mothers also resumed at full capacity.

 

EMERGENCY’s paediatric activities in Nyala are co-funded by the European Union Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid.

Programme Data: 

Outpatients Consultations: 64,240

Patients Admitted: 2,658

Cardiological Consultations: 1,419

(Data updated to January 2023)