Costly odyssey for cancer care in war-torn Sudan [Video]

Doctors in eastern Sudan say Mohammed al-Juneid’s wife, displaced and diagnosed with cancer, needs treatment elsewhere in the war-torn country. But the road is long and dangerous, and the journey expensive.

“Even if we make it to Meroe in the north, who knows how long we’ll have to wait until it’s her turn,” the 65-year-old told AFP in Gedaref, where he and his wife have sought safety from the country’s raging war.

Since April 2023, fighting between the army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces has shattered Sudan’s already fragile healthcare system.

Fewer than 30 percent of hospitals remain functional, “and even so at a minimal level”, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).

For tens of thousands of patients with chronic illnesses, that has meant embarking on long, dangerous odysseys across front lines, often just to reach an overwhelmed and under-equipped healthcare facility.

Many have flocked to Gedaref in …