MOTHERS and children in Sudan’s South Darfur region are experiencing one of the worst health emergencies in the world, says humanitarian organisation Doctors Without Borders (MSF).

The disaster is one of the consequences of the civil war that has engulfed Sudan since April 2023.

In its latest report, MSF says that 114 maternal deaths occurred betwen January and mid-August this year.

More than 50 per cent of the deaths were in medical settings, with sepsis being the most common cause.

Between January and June, 48 newborns died from sepsis at two MSF-backed medical facilities, the report says.

Malnutrition among children in South Darfur also exceeded emergency thresholds, according to the group, which adds that demands for medical attention “far exceed what MSF can respond to.”

Sudan has been engulfed by a civil war between the Sudanese military and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces since April 2023.

The amount of critical aid reaching South Darfur rose slightly in June, when the United Nations World Food Programme delivered life-saving food and nutrition to some families.

In August, 30,000 children under the age of two were screened for malnutrition, including nearly 33 per cent who are acutely malnourished and 8.1 per cent who are severely and acutely malnourished, MSF said.

“This is a crisis unlike any other I have seen in my career — multiple health emergencies happening simultaneously, with almost no international response from the UN and others,” said MSF sexual and reproductive health activity manager Dr Gillian Burkhardt in Nyala, South Darfur. 

“Newborn babies, pregnant women and new mothers are dying in shocking numbers. So many deaths are due to preventable conditions, as almost everything has broken down.”

Most humanitarian organisations have not returned to Nyala since the war broke out, leaving MSF as one of the few international groups working there.