GENEVA

The World Health Organization on Tuesday urged for immediate access in Sudan, warning of an "unfolding humanitarian catastrophe" that needs to be contained. 

"Access is crucially and immediately needed so that we can avert the disastrous health situation," Shible Sahbani, WHO representative to Sudan, told a UN briefing in Geneva via video link.

"Urgent action and a ceasefire are needed to contain an unfolding humanitarian catastrophe," Sahbani said, warning that without urgent action "the rapidly deteriorating situation in Sudan could spiral out of hand permitting the unchecked reign of diseases, malnutrition and trauma with transgenerational impact on Sudan’s people."

Noting that he was in Chad last week as part of a high-level WHO mission from both the Eastern Mediterranean and African regions, he said: "The needs I saw in Chad mirrored what I had witnessed among the displaced people in Sudan – it was disturbing; heartbreaking even."

"Women and children spoke of hunger, illness, violence and loss," he said. "Their suffering was etched on their faces."

He stressed that all refugees he met said the reason why they fled Sudan was "hunger."

Nearly 13 million people in Sudan are now displaced, with more than 10 million scattered inside Sudan and more than 2 million seeking refuge in neighboring countries, he said.

The Darfur, Kordofan, Khartoum, and Al Gezira states are all but cut off from humanitarian and health assistance due to the relentless fighting, he added.

According to the representative, the situation in Darfur is "particularly alarming" as in places like El Fasher, "over 800,000 people are besieged – cut off from access to food, health care and medical supplies – the wounded cannot get the urgent care they need; children and pregnant and breastfeeding women are weak due to acute hunger."

Sahbani also drew attention to the huge funding gap, saying the Humanitarian Response Plan for Sudan is only 26% funded, and the health response plan is 36% funded.

"We need urgent action to bridge" that gap, he said.

The conflict in Sudan broke out in April 2023, when army Gen. Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and RSF commander Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo disagreed on whether the RSF should be integrated into the military.

The conflict has killed nearly 16,000 people, displaced millions, and caused a devastating humanitarian crisis in the country, according to UN figures.