According to the aid organization Doctors Without Borders (MSF), the health care system in Sudan, a country torn by civil war, is on the verge of collapse. The organization warned that cuts to aid funds for the African country are forcing clinics and outpatient centers across the country to close, and, on the occasion of the UN General Assembly, appealed to heads of state and government to ensure funding for essential health care in Sudan. The UN aid plan, totaling $2.87 billion, is only 41 percent funded.

“The war is driving up needs in Sudan, and at the same time, funding cuts are limiting the amount of aid that can be provided,” said Muhammad Ibrahim, MSF Country Coordinator in Sudan. “Our work is privately funded. But when funding for other health services is cut, clinics close, patients have fewer places to turn, and the pressure shifts to the remaining facilities, including ours.”

For example, in Tawila in North Darfur, the supply situation for up to 600,000 displaced people is critical. Doctors Without Borders operates the only 200-bed hospital in the region and is the only organization capable of implementing large-scale measures to combat epidemics. However, the number of malaria and malnutrition cases is already rising, even before the peak of the rainy season.