Sudan

Healthcare

International Medical Corps supports and operates in 67 health facilities across Sudan, delivering essential health services, strengthening health systems and providing resources to deploy skilled health workers to those facilities. Essential health services include treatment and prevention of disease, along with reproductive healthcare, health education, immunization, child healthcare and surveillance, clinical management of rape and referrals to emergency- and secondary-level health services, including surgery and obstetric care.

Reproductive health services include antenatal care (ANC), clean and safe deliveries attended by skilled birth attendants, postnatal care (PNC) and newborn care. We help children by providing integrated management of childhood illnesses, immunizations and nutrition screening.

In 2023, despite limited access and chronic instability, we provided humanitarian assistance to more than 1.6 million people. During the same period, we provided 667,193 outpatient consultations to those in need, including thousands of patients treated for acute respiratory infections, diarrhoea and malaria, which continue to be the leading causes of disease in our program areas.

We also reached women with comprehensive maternal health services, including 17,219 women who received ANC, 8,679 who delivered babies assisted by skilled healthcare personnel and 8,393 who received PNC. In addition, we immunized 36,293 children, including 24,829 vaccinated against measles. We have also engaged with local organizations across Sudan to build their capacity and enable them to deliver health education for 85,184 people on critical topics such as immunizations; infectious diseases; malaria and measles transmission, prevention and control; ANC; birth preparedness and healthy delivery; and PNC.

Health Systems Strengthening

We support efforts by Sudan’s Ministry of Health (MoH) to promote a stronger healthcare delivery system. Our activities include supporting service delivery, providing information management, rehabilitating health facilities, deploying healthcare workers, and providing medicines and medical supplies. We support MoH efforts around disease control, disease surveillance and immunization, and train MoH staff on emergency preparedness.

Nutrition

International Medical Corps provides nutrition services in Sudan to those most vulnerable to hunger—including children under 5, pregnant women and nursing mothers. We operate 59 outpatient therapeutic programs (OTPs), 59 target supplementary treatment centres (TSFPs) and six stabilization centres for malnourished children with life-threatening medical complications. Of the 191,751 people we screened for malnutrition in 2023, 76% were children under 5. Of those, thousands were malnourished. We treated 5,577 people in OTPs and 5,845 in TSFPs, including 4,496 children under 5 and 1,349 pregnant or nursing mothers. Working with local partners and community volunteers, we also provide awareness sessions for mothers on the importance of breastfeeding, dietary diversification using local foods, safe food preparation and nutritional support for mothers and children. In 2023, we reached 66,543 people with nutrition education.

Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH)

Many communities in Sudan experience sub-standard water quality and insufficient quantity—17.3 million people lack access to basic drinking water, while about 24 million lack access to proper sanitation facilities. Influxes of refugees and internally displaced persons (IDPs) frequently strain host communities and camp water-collection and sanitation systems. By expanding access to clean water, creating proper waste-disposal systems and providing safe sanitation facilities, we restore and protect healthy living conditions.

In Sudan, we implement WASH activities as part of health and nutrition interventions. These include:

• promotion of and education about good hygiene practices;
• creation of waste disposal facilities and safe practices;
• chlorination, rehabilitation and maintenance of water points;
• construction and rehabilitation of drainage canals and latrines; and
• improvement of WASH, as well as infection prevention and control, in health facilities.

In 2023, we constructed or rehabilitated 12 water points for IDPs and vulnerable host communities and reached 57,791 people with information about the need for safe hygiene practices and other WASH activities.

Mental Health and Psychosocial Support

International Medical Corps provides MHPSS services through an integrated approach, ensuring accessibility, non-stigmatization and cultural acceptability. Our MHPSS program aims to improve mental health, enhance resilience and well-being, build social support networks and support affected populations, including children and youth. Our MHPSS services include psychological support, mental health case management, psychological first aid (PFA) and group psychosocial support (PSS), including the WHO’s Self-Help Plus (SH+) intervention. Community-based PSS activities include community outreach, mental health awareness and psychoeducation. International Medical Corps also provides training for key stakeholders, including general health providers, MHPSS staff, community leaders, local partners and staff from other humanitarian agencies. Training topics include the WHO’s mhGAP Humanitarian Intervention Guide (mhGAP-HIG), SH+, PFA, basic concepts of MHPSS, and detection and safe referrals of mental health cases. International Medical Corps also actively contributes to the establishment and strengthening of MHPSS coordination mechanisms, including the Sudan National and Sub-Regional MHPSS Technical Working Groups.

Violence Against Women and Girls

To help meet increasing needs related to escalating violence, International Medical Corps launched its first prevention and response program focused on violence against women and girls in Sudan. We partner with two women-led women’s rights organizations to make support services available for survivors and strengthen support and protection for women and girls at risk of violence. International Medical Corps recognizes the importance of individualized, survivor-centred care, including psychosocial support and safe referral to health services. Our integrated approach ensures that survivors can access CMR and intimate partner violence (IPV) services. We also support local efforts to combat violence against women and girls, and promote broader support for survivors through community engagement. International Medical Corps also contributes to the sub-cluster working group to ensure that interventions are enhanced through inter-agency collaboration and cooperation.

Capacity Building

The health system’s limited capacity and response mechanisms have severely weakened Sudan’s ability to provide adequate healthcare. Strengthening the capacity of health staff, largely through training, helps communities move toward sustainability and self-reliance.

Since arriving in Sudan in 2004, we have trained thousands of local and national medical personnel, including traditional birth attendants and community leaders. In 2023, we trained 928 people, providing them with skills that include:

• maternal and newborn healthcare;
• emergency obstetric and newborn care;
• rationed use of essential drugs;
• prevention and treatment of common communicable and non-communicable diseases;
• early-childhood care;
• identification and management of common childhood illnesses;
• nutritional screening, and treatment and prevention of malnutrition;
• outbreak preparedness and response-management care;
• infection prevention and control; and
• community-based feedback and response mechanisms.

The expertise of these providers is crucial to integrating healthcare services into the community. Their skills also provide the continuity of care needed to stabilise fragile healthcare systems and foster long-term recovery.