Five months into conflict: near total collapse of cancer services in Sudan

Salma S Alrawa; Esraa Sa Alfadul; Moawia Mohammed Ali Elhassan; Nazik Hammad

doi:10.3332/ecancer.2023.128

Five months into conflict: near total collapse of cancer services in Sudan

Ecancermedicalscience. 2023 Oct 9:17:ed128. doi: 10.3332/ecancer.2023.128. eCollection 2023.

Authors

Salma S Alrawa¹, Esraa Sa Alfadul^{1

2}, Moawia Mohammed Ali Elhassan³, Nazik Hammad⁴

Affiliations

¹ Faculty of Medicine, University of Khartoum, Khartoum, Sudan.
² Station Of Medical Essentials (SOME) Institution, Khartoum, 11111, Sudan.
³ Department of Oncology, National Cancer Institute, University of Gezira, Sudan.
⁴ St Michael's Hospital, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON M5B 1W8, Canada.

Abstract

The onset of the Sudanese military conflict on April 15, 2023, has had a profound impact on the healthcare infrastructure across the entire nation. While wars impact all individuals with non-communicable diseases, cancer patients are particularly vulnerable. The war has influenced the treatment of Sudanese cancer patients in many ways. It has disrupted and delayed the diagnostic process, suspended surgery, and all forms of cancer management such as radiotherapy, chemotherapy and palliative care. This unfortunate situation has likely worsened the outcomes for many Sudanese cancer patients. This editorial reflects the situation of cancer services in Sudan post conflict.

Keywords: cancer care; conflict; developing countries; sudan; war.

Publication types

Editorial