Hunger and disease overtake war as Sudan’s top killers

By Newsflash Writer

Sudan’s brutal two-year conflict has displaced millions and claimed thousands of lives.

But the deadliest threat now appears not from bullets or bombs, but from starvation and disease silently spreading across the nation.

In El-Fasher, the North Darfur capital, heavy fighting has dragged on for nearly 18 months, creating a worsening humanitarian disaster with famine looming. Millions are going hungry in territories held by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), where aid access remains blocked.

This week, UN Human Rights Commissioner Volker Türk condemned “large-scale attacks” by the RSF, following a deadly assault that killed at least 57 civilians on August 11 in El-Fasher and the nearby Abu Shouk displacement camp. “Once again, civilians are subjected to unimaginable horror after enduring siege, violence, and dire living conditions for over a year,” Türk said, stressing that repeated assaults violate international law and must cease. UN records show the camp has faced 16 separate attacks since January, leaving more than 200 people dead.

While fighting has killed tens of thousands, experts warn that the true scale of loss—estimated at 28,000 but potentially exceeding 60,000—is driven by famine and preventable disease. Since April 2023, more than 30 million people have required humanitarian assistance, with over half of Sudan’s population facing acute food insecurity, aid groups report. Mercy Corps revealed this week that Sudan’s economy has collapsed, shrinking 30 percent in 2023 and another 13.5 percent in 2024, erasing nearly half the nation’s wealth. Unemployment has soared to 47 percent, and poverty levels have more than doubled to 71 percent in two years, leaving the youth—who make up 35 percent of the population—particularly vulnerable. Once the backbone of innovation and civil society, young Sudanese are now either fleeing, fighting, or stuck in camps as refugees. “Without urgent action, Sudan risks losing an entire generation—not to war, but to despair,” warned Mercy Corps Sudan Director Kadry Furany.

Cholera outbreak deepens the crisis

At the same time, a devastating cholera outbreak is sweeping through displacement camps in Darfur. Declared a year ago, it has already infected nearly 100,000 people and killed more than 2,470. In Tawila, North Darfur, where 380,000 people have sought refuge from El-Fasher’s fighting, hospitals are overwhelmed—designed for 130 patients, one facility last week hosted more than 400 cholera cases. Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) reported treating 2,300 patients and recording 40 deaths in just one week. “Displaced families often have no choice but to drink contaminated water,” said MSF’s Sylvain Penicaud, citing incidents where bodies were retrieved from wells that refugees were forced to drink from days later.

In Blue Nile state, cholera has already killed patients suffering from severe malnutrition, worsening recovery chances. “The outbreak is spreading far beyond camps, now reaching multiple Darfur localities,” said MSF mission head Tuna Turkmen, urging for immediate vaccination drives, sanitation measures, and medical reinforcements.

The crisis has spilled over into Chad and South Sudan, where swelling refugee populations have overwhelmed aid systems. CARE’s interim Chad country director, Noël Allarabei, warned that the rainy season is further restricting access while heightening cholera risks. Humanitarian agencies had appealed for $4.2 billion to aid 21 million Sudanese this year, but only 23 percent has been funded. Worse still, aid convoys are regularly obstructed or looted by both warring factions—the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the RSF—leaving more than 30 million people in urgent need. UNHCR’s regional director, Mamadou Dian Balde, accused the warring parties of weaponizing hunger against civilians.

Political paralysis and state collapse

The UN-backed Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) has already confirmed famine in parts of El-Fasher and the Nuba Mountains, areas nearly impossible to access due to insecurity. “Children are dying daily from dehydration and malnutrition,” said Plan International’s Sudan director Mohamed Kamal. “A 10-year-old girl told us she has survived on nothing but lentil soup for months, dreaming of fruit.”

Meanwhile, Sudan’s political collapse has deepened. More than two years after fighting erupted, rival administrations divide the country: the RSF’s self-declared “parallel government” in opposition to the SAF’s transitional authority in Port Sudan.

Neither has managed to restore governance or public services. Hospitals lack doctors, drugs, and electricity, while both sides focus on military campaigns rather than serving civilians.

The war has reduced Sudan not just to a battlefield, but to what the UN calls the world’s worst humanitarian catastrophe—a nation where state structures are crumbling and millions are trapped between hunger, disease, and despair.