WHO: 700,000 displaced people in Tawila face a gap in health services

Amsterdam – October 8, 2026 – Radio Dabanga. The World Health Organization (WHO) stated that health and humanitarian needs across Darfur far exceed the resources currently available to respond, particularly in “Tawila” in North Darfur, where more than 700,000 displaced people are facing severe gaps in health, nutrition, food, water, sanitation, and protection services, while simultaneously announcing its intention to expand its operations in Darfur and Kordofan. In a statement issued on Wednesday, viewed by “Radio Dabanga,” it explained that the situation in Tawila reflects broader pressures in Darfur, where ongoing insecurity, mass displacement, limited access to basic services, and frequent disease outbreaks are putting millions of people at risk. According to the International Organization for Migration (IOM), Darfur hosts 65% of the 8.6 million internally displaced persons in Sudan. Field Visit: This warning follows a ten-day field mission by the WHO Representative in Sudan, Dr. Abdinasir Abubakar, to the Darfur states. During this mission, he visited health facilities and met with health workers, local community leaders, and displaced persons to assess the changing health situation and priority needs. From September 14 to 24, Dr. Abdinasir visited all Darfur states except East Darfur, including major referral hospitals, primary healthcare centers, dialysis units, laboratory facilities, and projects supported by the WHO, including the Sudan Health Emergency Assistance and Response (SHARE) project funded by the World Bank in Nyala and El Geneina hospitals, to assess progress and identify opportunities to strengthen the delivery of health services to vulnerable communities. Serious concern about malnutrition: Worsening malnutrition was a source of serious concern in the health facilities visited by Dr. Abdinasir. The situation is expected to deteriorate further with poor rainfall, crop failures, and the projected impact of a strong “El Niño” phenomenon, which increases food insecurity and vulnerability. Access to mental health and psychosocial support services is also extremely limited, and a shortage of mental health medications is depriving many of the care they need. Basic medications and medical supplies for treating HIV, tuberculosis, neglected tropical diseases, and other life-saving interventions are in acute shortage. Therefore, urgent action and additional resources are needed to prevent the situation from deteriorating further and to ensure that the most vulnerable populations have access to basic health services. Massive health and humanitarian needs: Dr. Abdinasir said: “I have witnessed the scale of the massive health and humanitarian needs in Tawila and other parts of Darfur. I have met with dedicated partners and health workers who continue to serve their communities despite insecurity, difficult access, funding and supply shortages, and the absence of partners. We must ensure that these frontline responders have the resources, support, and tools needed to meet the growing needs of the populations they serve.” Across the Darfur region, 39 health cluster partners on the ground continue to show a strong commitment to delivering basic health services and reaching millions in need. Despite these efforts, significant gaps remain; many areas and vulnerable communities lack adequate access to basic life-saving healthcare. Health workers provide essential services under extremely difficult conditions, often suffering from shortages of medicines, medical supplies, infrastructure, and staff, as the scale of health needs continues to exceed the capacity to respond. Expanding operations in Darfur and Kordofan: The organization announced its readiness to expand its operations in Darfur, Kordofan, and other conflict-affected areas, including increasing the provision of essential medicines and medical supplies, strengthening early warning and disease surveillance systems, supporting the capacities of reference laboratories to detect and confirm diseases in a timely manner, and strengthening decentralized coordination among health clusters by providing greater support to national and local partners. The organization explained that its available resources—where only 23% of its 2026 humanitarian appeal of 97.7 million USD has been funded—do not meet the needs on the ground. It stated that the scale of humanitarian needs in Darfur, and indeed in all of Sudan, requires a significant and sustained increase in funding to scale up the health response and address the acute shortages in medicines, medical supplies, disease surveillance, laboratory capacities, and basic health services. Equally important is ensuring safe, sustained, and unimpeded humanitarian access so that health sector partners can reach all populations in need and provide timely, life-saving assistance. The WHO called on donors, partners, and all stakeholders for an urgent increase in resources to meet the growing health and humanitarian needs in Darfur, along with safe, sustained, and unhindered humanitarian access, to enable health partners to scale up the response and ensure that vulnerable communities throughout Sudan have access to the health services and assistance they urgently need.