Cairo, May 5 (EFE).- The regional office of the World Health Organization (WHO) reported today that the first international delivery of emergency supplies from the organization by air has arrived in Port Sudan (east) since The conflict broke out in Sudan on April 15.
“Thirty metric tons of trauma and emergency surgery supplies have arrived in Port Sudan today on a chartered flight from the World Health Organization logistics center in Dubai,” the WHO Eastern Mediterranean office said in a statement. based in Cairo and covering Sudan.
The agency stated that the aid is “awaiting security and access authorizations”, but once granted, the supplies “will be distributed to thirteen health centers throughout the country to assist in emergency surgical interventions and care trauma center to treat 165,000 patients and restore emergency health care services to those who need them.”
Another shipment of 80 metric tons of emergency health supplies, including intravenous fluids, supplies for the treatment of traumatic injuries and kits for the treatment of severe acute malnutrition, was delivered by sea in Port Sudan a week ago, the WHO recalled, which He pointed out that the distribution of the supplies is scheduled to begin once the customs procedures and dispatches have been completed.
The coastal city of Port Sudan has become a kind of temporary capital of the African country, since there is no fighting in the place, where the UN mission in Sudan and other embassies have moved their headquarters.
“The medical supplies positioned by the WHO before the conflict were quickly consumed due to the needs created by the conflict. The arrival of these supplies will fill critical gaps in the health system until more supplies arrive for a sustained response to the crisis,” WHO representative in Sudan Nima Saeed Abid said in the statement.
In Sudan, there was an ongoing humanitarian crisis before the escalation of violence, as almost 16 million people – a third of the population – were already in need of humanitarian aid, with 50,000 children severely malnourished and some 3.7 million internally displaced.
“The main challenge is getting these supplies to the health centers where they are needed,” said WHO Regional Director for the Eastern Mediterranean, Ahmed al Mandhari.
The UN seeks guarantees of security and access to deliver humanitarian aid and distribute it throughout Sudan due to the continuous looting suffered by various United Nations agencies and NGOs since the start of the conflict between the Sudanese Army and the paramilitary group Fuerzas Rapid Support (FAR).
At least 551 people have been killed and nearly 5,000 injured in fighting between the military rivals in three weeks, the WHO said today.