Sudan: Women and girls hit hard by attacks on health.

Some 67% of hospitals in areas affected by fighting are closed, and several maternity hospitals are out of action, including Omdurman Hospital, the largest referral hospital in Sudan. Among the 11 million people in Sudan who need urgent health assistance are 2.64 million women and girls of reproductive age. Some 262 880 of them are pregnant and over 90 000 will give birth in the next three months. All of them need access to critical reproductive health services.

Since April, when the fighting began, WHO has verified 46 attacks on health workers and facilities which have killed eight people and injured 18 others. Facilities and health assets have also been looted, and health workers have been subjected to violence. A number of health facilities are being used by armed forces.

There are reports of a military occupation of the National Medical Supply Funds (NMSF) warehouses in the capital, Khartoum, where medicines for the entire country, including malaria medicines, are kept, and where the national pharmacy for chronic diseases is located. WHO's stock of emergency medical supplies and development products is kept at its warehouse on the premises. UNFPA's stocks of medicines and equipment for obstetric care, post-rape treatment, as well as a wide range of contraceptives, which are stored at warehouses in Khartoum, South Darfur, West Darfur and elsewhere are also inaccessible. Health facilities in several states, including the Darfurs, have warned that they are facing critical shortages of medical supplies.

In a worrying development, hospitals are running out of fuel to power generators that provide electricity. Six newborns died at a hospital in the city of Eld'aeen in East Darfur in the space of a week due to issues including a lack of oxygen amid electricity blackouts and local doctors estimated that more than 30 newborns have died at the hospital since the start of the fighting. In May, UNFPA and local partner, the CAFA Development Organization, provided fuel for seven maternity hospitals in Khartoum to ensure health services were available for women and newborns. In just one week, more than 1000 deliveries and caesarean sections were safely carried out. But more support is desperately needed to secure fuel and supplies for key hospitals to sustain essential services. Some 15% of pregnant women experience pregnancy- and birth-related complications and need access to emergency obstetric and newborn care.

UNFPA provides sexual and...