World must ‘wake up and help Sudan get out of conflict’ says WHO’s Tedros – Global Issues

“The level of emergency is alarming, and the insufficient measures being taken to stop the conflict,” said Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General of the UN World Health Organization (WHO).

Speaking to reporters from the Red Sea City in Port Sudan, Dr. Tedros said the conflict has so far killed more than 20,000 people – he thinks the number is much higher – and has created the world’s biggest internal displacement crisis, leaving more than 10 million people inside. country, forcing two million others to flee to neighboring countries.

‘A problem falling on deaf ears’

Since April 2023, Sudan has been experiencing a deadly conflict between the Sudanese Army and the Paramilitary Rapid Support Forces.

After 500 days of fighting, in addition to the increasing number of deaths and the increasing number of internally displaced people, dangerous floods from time to time have damaged important infrastructure, outbreaks of diseases such as diarrhea and malaria are increasing, many incidents of conflict-related violence. reported, and there is famine in some parts of the country.

At the end of his two-day visit, Dr. Tedros said, “25.6 million people – more than half of Sudan’s population – are expected to face high levels of food insecurity.” He also noted that 70 to 80 percent of the country’s health centers are not fully operational.

Despite these sobering statistics, and WHO has been sounding the alarm since the beginning of the conflict while working with partners to meet some of the challenges, “the international community seems to have forgotten about Sudan and is ignoring the conflict that is destroying, and the consequences for, the region,” said Dr. Tedros.

‘The best medicine is silence’

“The conflict has left around 25 million people… in dire need of humanitarian assistance. Of these, 14.7 million need urgent assistance for various life-saving support, of which the social sector has requested $2.7 billion, which is less than half.”

He called for a series of actions that could save millions of people: the protection of health facilities, health workers and patients – health should not be controlled; continued access to services and assistance; improved disease surveillance and vaccination coverage; and “a significant increase in funding from the international community to scale up the response.”

“We are asking the world to wake up and help Sudan out of the nightmare it is facing,” the UN health chief said, adding that an immediate cessation of hostilities is needed, leading to a lasting political solution.

“The best medicine is silence,” he added.