ALBAWABA - In its latest report on the deteriorating health catastrophe in south Khartoum, Médecins Sans Frontières said that 1 in every 6 injuries arriving at the Bashair Teaching Hospital are children under the age of 15, with injuries arraying between shrapnel wounds and gunshots.
In the report, MSF said that many of the children arriving at Bashir Teaching Hospital suffered gunshot, blast, and shrapnel wounds in addition to severe malnutrition, raising concerns surrounding the spike in injuries among children as war continues to tear through Sudan for the second year.
The health situation continues to deteriorate as medical supplies fall short across the country, adding a "needless layer of complexity, as it is within the power of warring parties to allow supplies to reach hospitals," the report reads.
One of the only hospitals in South Khartoum still in operation, Bashair Teaching Hospital offers maternity, surgical, and emergency services. For children injured in war, such as the 314 who have received treatment at the hospital for blast and gunshot wounds thus far in 2024, this care is essential.
In other cases, patients who require care would be referred to sources other than Bashair Teaching Hospital. However, even that is challenging because transportation networks have been devastated or are simply too unsafe to use.
Because of deliberate obstructions in the delivery of medical supplies and medicines, basic emergency procedures such as treating serious burns are impossible to carry out at the hospital.
This is concerning since an increasing number of people are being killed by bomb blasts, and Khartoum lacks a fully operational burn center.
Following an explosion at a market less than a kilometer away in late October, more than 30 war-wounded patients were brought to Bashair Teaching Hospital in one day. Twelve of those admitted to the ER were minors under the age of 15. Many of these children sustained burns and severe injuries.
Claire San Filippo, MSF’s emergency coordinator for Sudan, said: "These figures of violence and malnutrition show the nightmare people, including children, are experiencing in Khartoum,".
