‘Spoiled insulin’: Sudan war disrupts drug supplies, fuelling smuggling | Conflict News
Healthcare Collapse in Sudan Amid Ongoing Conflict
In a modest Khartoum North home battered by war, Murtada Mohieddin, a diabetic in his early 50s, counts his remaining doses of insulin, faced with a struggle exacerbated by the dire state of Sudan’s healthcare system. The search for adequate medication has evolved into a perilous task—not only to secure insulin but to ensure its viability.
“Sometimes the insulin is spoiled,” Mohieddin explained, examining his limited supply. “You wouldn’t know if it is ruined or expired. You can check the expiration date, but it could still be damaged from poor storage.”
Over three years of civil war have decimated Sudan’s healthcare infrastructure, leading to the closure of hospitals, health centers, and pharmaceutical factories. This conflict, which began as a power struggle between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), has resulted in over 50,000 deaths and displaced 14 million people—nearly a quarter of the nation’s population.
The ongoing war has dismantled local pharmaceutical production and disrupted vital supply chains. According to a World Health Organization (WHO) news release dated April 14, 2026, Sudan currently represents the largest humanitarian crisis globally, with 21 million individuals lacking access to essential healthcare among the 34 million who require aid.
In the absence of operational pharmaceutical companies, smuggling networks have proliferated, introducing unregulated drugs into the market known locally as “Boko” medicines. These include essential intravenous malaria medications transported without adequate temperature controls, often rendering them ineffective or dangerously toxic.
The situation in local pharmacies in Omdurman, on the outskirts of Khartoum, reveals a growing crisis. Patients are confronted with not only shortages but also the double threat of exorbitant prices and the compromised quality of illicit medicines. Mutawakil Hamza, a local pharmacist, expressed concern over the consequences of this dependence on smuggled medicines.
“Most malaria medicines are now brought in through smuggling,” Hamza noted. “These are ultimately injections for intravenous use, and this is highly dangerous to a patient’s health.”
Improperly stored intravenous treatments can result in severe infections, systemic shock, or even death, as they require strict adherence to sterilization protocols.
The war has severely impaired local manufacturing capabilities, reversing years of medical self-sufficiency. Yasser Ahmed Youssef, an expert in the pharmaceutical industry, remarked on the drastic decline from a time when factories produced significant quantities of essential drugs for conditions such as diabetes and high blood pressure.
Current reports indicate that 40 percent of health facilities in Sudan are nonoperational, with alarming statistics revealing that 87 percent of healthcare facilities in Khartoum and 85 percent in North Kordofan have ceased operations. In conflict-affected areas like Gezira, Khartoum, and Darfur, shortages of essential medical supplies are critically severe.
A United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) report from August 2025 highlighted the dire conditions of the only functioning maternity hospital in the besieged city of el-Fasher, which faces imminent closure due to critical medicine shortages. El-Fasher, the last stronghold of the SAF in western Darfur, was overtaken by the RSF in late October 2025, leaving approximately 700,000 civilians—including many women and children—without access to food and medical care.
In the public sector, the National Medical Supplies Fund claims to be working toward securing essential medicines despite the ongoing conflict, reporting 75 percent availability for cancer medications and adequate supplies for kidney patients. However, officials acknowledge the significant damage to the healthcare infrastructure.
“We have been massively affected by the ongoing war inside Sudan,” said Abubakar Salouha, a department director at the fund. “Medical supplies have been severely impacted; there has been a collapse at the level of the main warehouses at the headquarters.”
International aid deliveries face significant logistical challenges, with a WHO analysis indicating that transporting medical supplies to remote regions can take up to 90 days. Armed groups have frequently targeted medical infrastructure, leading to looting and attacks on hospitals.
Recent violence underscores the gravity of the situation. In March 2026, a drone strike on Al-Daein Teaching Hospital in East Darfur resulted in the deaths of at least 64 individuals, including medical personnel. Another attack in early April killed 10 staff members at Al-Jabalain Hospital in White Nile state while patients were attacked and looted in other facilities.
“Sudan is confronting one of the gravest humanitarian and public health emergencies in the world today,” warned WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus. “The ongoing conflict has pushed the health system to the edge of complete collapse.”
He urged for renewed international support and swift humanitarian action, emphasizing that Sudan cannot face this crisis alone.
