A first plane, loaded with eight tons of humanitarian aid, including surgical supplies, landed in Sudan where, according to the Red Cross, it should be able to treat 1,500 patients in the country, where most hospitals have been knocked out by the fighting.
The plane, which also carries humanitarian personnel, departed from Amman and landed in Port Sudan, a coastal city 850 kilometers east of Khartoum, where fighting between the army and the paramilitary group Rapid Support Forces (RSF) is concentrated.
Sudanese airspace has been closed since fighting broke out at Khartoum airport on April 15 amid tensions over the integration of paramilitaries into the armed forces as part of a process of democratic transition.
According to the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), the shipment contains “anaesthetics, dressings, sutures and other surgical materials”.
Speaking to journalists, the ICRC’s regional director for Africa, Patrick Youssef, said that with this equipment it is “possible to treat 1,500 injured people”, adding that they hope to get it “swiftly to the main hospitals in Khartoum”. to take.
But he warned that in order to deliver humanitarian supplies, they need “further security guarantees in Khartoum and Darfur,” where most of the fighting is taking place.
In Darfur, the situation is “very difficult”, lamented Patrick Youssef, who stressed that in “normal times” they would guide people moving to other places, but in the current situation “it is impossible”
For doctors in Sudan, it is especially necessary to restore water and electricity and to remove the fighters occupying certain institutions.
Alternatives are also needed for the 15 hospitals bombed and teams to replace the doctors, some of whom have been working non-stop for 15 days, he said.
“Only 16% of hospitals in Khartoum are working according to the UN and the situation is catastrophic due to the lack of doctors and medical equipment,” warns Youssef, who emphasizes that “in normal times, one hospital every two in two days, but in times of war, especially like now, when hospitals are looted and attacked, this deadline gets shorter.”
The doctors warned that it was also necessary to find the necessary resources to treat the “12,000 patients” who, without dialysis in hospitals, where the ‘supply’ is empty and the generators run out of fuel, are “at risk of die”. .
“Chronic diseases will be one of our next priorities,” Youssef said.
The Geneva-based ICRC has announced that it is preparing to charter a second aircraft to provide more medical assistance with the support of humanitarian personnel.
Since April 15 According to the Sudanese Ministry of Health, 528 people were killed and more than 4,000 injured.
“The Sudanese Red Crescent is on the streets to recover the bodies,” Youssef said.
Source: DN
