Cancer patients in Sudan are struggling to access life-saving treatment as soaring medication costs, power shortages and damaged hospital infrastructure deepen the country's healthcare crisis after more than three years of war.
Doctors at Khartoum Oncology Hospital say many patients are delaying chemotherapy because they can no longer afford supportive medicines that were once provided free of charge, while electricity shortages continue to disrupt treatment.
Nayla Hamad, who is receiving chemotherapy for cervical cancer, said her family can no longer afford the medication she needs every 21 days.
"My mother has cervical cancer and she receives chemotherapy. We found the medication outside the hospital for 180,000 Sudanese pounds," her daughter, Ethar al-Ser, said.
"I rent the hospital bed for 40,000 Sudanese pounds (around $66) so she can receive her chemotherapy dose. How can I afford all of this? Where is the work and where is the income?"
Hamad said the financial burden has worsened alongside the country's humanitarian crisis.
"Living conditions are difficult and prices have skyrocketed," she said. "Before, we struggled with food prices. Now we struggle with the prices of food and medicine. Our home is demolished and we are staying at our neighbours' house."
Hospital staff warn that medication shortages are forcing patients to postpone chemotherapy, reducing the effectiveness of treatment.
"I have a number of patients who stopped treatment after the medications we used to provide for free were cut," said Mona Abdelrahman, chief pharmacist at Khartoum Oncology Hospital.
"Those who can't buy the medication have their doses delayed by two weeks or more. If they do not take their doses on time, it will definitely impact their health."
She added that shortages extend beyond chemotherapy drugs to intravenous fluids and other essential medical supplies, with demand outstripping what Sudan's free medicine programme can provide.
The hospital is also struggling to operate after fighting damaged one of Sudan's most advanced radiotherapy machines.
Director General Ahmed Omar Abdullah said restoring the equipment has been complicated by persistent electricity shortages.
"We are about to carry out full maintenance on this device so it can return to service," he said. "One of the challenges we are facing is the unavailability of electricity."
The machine previously offered advanced 3D radiotherapy that many Sudanese patients had travelled abroad to receive.
"Now, as we can see, the destruction and damage are extensive," Abdullah said. "Parts of this device are scattered on the floor."
Ahmed al-Sheikh, head of the Curative Medicine Directorate at Khartoum State's Ministry of Health, said the hospital is relying on solar power while repairs continue.
"Alternative energy covers part of the need, but not all of it," he said. "At least people can continue working until the other power system is repaired."
He added that while chemotherapy itself remains free, many supportive medicines prescribed alongside treatment are not subsidised, leaving patients to buy costly drugs from private pharmacies.
The war in Sudan began in April 2023 after fighting erupted between the Sudanese army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF). The conflict has killed hundreds of thousands of people, displaced millions and devastated the country's healthcare system.
According to the World Health Organization's Global Cancer Observatory, Sudan recorded more than 41,000 new cancer cases and more than 73,000 people living with cancer in 2024.
Four people were killed, including a child, in Ukrainian strikes on the Russian port city of Novorossiysk overn...
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) said on Wednesday they attacked two U.S. vessels and eight oil tankers in the Persian Gulf, calling the st...
Start your day informed with the AnewZ Morning Brief. Here are the top stories for the 8th of September, covering the latest developments....
U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) said its forces destroyed five Iranian crude oil carriers after the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) allegedly launched two ballistic missile attacks against a U.S. Navy warship over the past two days.
A TV channel was struck during a live broadcast on Tuesday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said, as Russian strikes on Kyiv killed at least three people, the city's Mayor Vitali Klitschko said. Meanwhile, drones hit civilian infrastructure in Russia's southwestern Saratov region.
U.S. special envoys Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff have held talks with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Kyiv on Sunday on efforts to end Russia’s war in Ukraine.
Indonesia has reopened Jakarta's main airport and four others after volcanic ash from Mount Anak Krakatau forced widespread flight cancellations, though fresh eruptions have kept authorities on alert.
Four people were killed, including a child, in Ukrainian strikes on the Russian port city of Novorossiysk overnight, Veniamin Kondratyev, Governor of the Krasnodar region, said. Russian military ships were destroyed in the attacks, Ukraine's drone forces commander, Robert Brovdi, said.
A new study has found that baby girls exposed to paracetamol during pregnancy had, on average, smaller ovaries and uteruses and fewer ovarian follicles than those whose mothers did not take the painkiller.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) has warned that efforts to contain the Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) are facing growing pressure as the virus spreads to new areas faster than treatment capacity can be expanded.
Bangladesh’s dengue outbreak is accelerating, with 42,590 people hospitalised and 117 deaths recorded this year as a sharp September surge puts further pressure on hospitals.
Prescriptions for GLP-1 weight-loss medicines among U.S. children aged eight to 11 have increased more than 300-fold since 2019, highlighting both the growing burden of childhood obesity and the debate over how early these drugs should be used.
Australia has confirmed its first case of H5N1 bird flu in a mammal after the virus was detected in a dead long-nosed fur seal in South Australia, authorities said.
You can download the AnewZ application from Play Store and the App Store.
What is your opinion on this topic?
Leave the first comment