The Egyptian Ambassador to Sudan, Hani Salah, revealed a Qatari-Egyptian initiative to establish a hospital in Sudan, as the health sector in the war-torn country suffers from a severe shortage of medical services and medical and drug supplies.

This comes at a time when the Sudanese army is intensifying its efforts to achieve gains in the capital, Khartoum, in some of the fiercest battles since the start of the conflict with the Rapid Support Forces (RSF). Residents said that the army carried out air strikes and heavy artillery shelling, in an attempt to seize a bridge across the Nile River used by the RSF to transport reinforcements and weapons from Omdurman to the cities of Bahri and Khartoum. The three cities together make up the wider capital of Sudan.

According to reports by the Sudanese News Agency, Egyptian Ambassador to Sudan, Hani Salah, discussed with the Sudanese Minister of Health, Dr Haitham Mohamed Ibrahim, ensuring the continued provision of health services and to provide a helping hand to improve the health situation in Sudan.

Sudanese sources previously revealed to Al-Sharq that the specialised authorities in Sudan at the port of Port Sudan, in the east of the country, had received an e-passport facility from Qatar. This is in preparation for the resumption of procedures and travel documents and the issuance of e-passports in light of the current war.

Fighting erupted on 14 April between the Sudanese army and the RSF paramilitary group.

According to the UN, more than four  million people have been displaced, including more than 900,000 who have fled to neighbouring countries that are also suffering from conflicts and economic crises.

The UNHCR said it recorded more than 300 deaths between 15 May and 17 July due to measles and malnutrition, especially among children under the age of five, due to limited humanitarian funding and access difficulties.

“As many families have been on the move for weeks – with very little food or medicine – rising malnutrition rates, disease outbreaks and related deaths continue to be observed,” said UNHCR spokesman William Spindler in a news briefing in Geneva.

Source: Middle East Monitor