The charity Save the Children said that medical supplies for clinics dealing with the humanitarian crisis in Sudan could run out within two weeks unless shipments are quickly rerouted following disruptions caused by the conflict in the Middle East.
The expansion of the US-Israeli war on Iran has destabilized global supply chains, with airspace closures and the cessation of shipping through the Strait of Hormuz.
The charity said that essential medicines worth about $600,000 are stuck in Dubai ports.
Willem Zuidema, the organization’s global director for supply chain safety, told Reuters that about 90 clinics run by the Sudanese government serving nearly 400,000 patients depend on the organization’s supplies of medicines and vaccines, as there are no alternatives within the country.
The ongoing conflict in Sudan for three years has displaced millions and caused one of the world’s largest humanitarian crises.
“We have two weeks to redirect these shipments before stocks in the country run out; time is ticking,” Zuidema said, adding that once reserve stocks are exhausted, patients will be unable to access basic healthcare.
Medicines, which include antibiotics, anti-malarials, pain and fever medications, and injectable drugs for children, usually enter through Port Sudan and are transported by land to areas including Darfur.
Tom Fletcher, a UN aid official, said last week that the conflict in the Middle East is putting pressure on humanitarian supply chains, with sub-Saharan Africa and Gaza under particular pressure.
Rising costs and shrinking grants exacerbate the crisis
The World Health Organization warned of an increasing shortage of medical supplies in Sudan. WHO Regional Director Hanan Balkhy said, “There is a major crisis in Sudan, of course, and there is also a bigger crisis in the medical tools reaching some areas.”
Save the Children said rising transport costs are affecting aid budgets that are severely constrained by significant cuts in donations, as container shipping prices have risen by about 25 to 30 percent with some shipping companies rerouting their vessels around the Cape of Good Hope, adding weeks to delivery times.
Zuidema said the level of shipping disruption and the subsequent impact on costs could be worse than in the early stages of the Ukraine war and the COVID pandemic because there is little flexibility in the system after aid cuts.
“Demand will rise, but the means available to us to respond, especially with rising fuel prices leading to higher costs, will decrease, and this is very worrying,” he added.
Save the Children’s budget for Sudan this year has dropped by $4 million to $98 million.
