Following deadly violence that took place in the Tabarat market in Tawila, North Darfur State, Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) provided urgent care to 46 wounded male patients, including one child.
Since September 2, MSF medical teams have been treating 41 people in its Tawila health center and five people in the MSF clinic in Kaguro. MSF transferred 15 of the most severely wounded to Al-Fashir Teaching Hospital in the North Darfur capital, and donated drugs for their care.
“After the incident, 46 people reached our health centers, many with serious gunshot wounds,” said Alessandro Tuzza, MSF head of mission in Sudan. “Hundreds of families fled Tabarat area in fear, leaving everything behind. They urgently needed basic items for survival, such as shelter, as it’s now the rainy season in Darfur.”
Since the incident, 520 displaced families from the Tarabat area have arrived in Tawila. To help them cope with immediate needs, MSF is providing them with clean drinking water and distributing essential household items, including plastic sheeting, ropes, blankets, mats, soap, and jerry cans.
Additionally, an MSF mental health counselor is providing support to displaced families to help them deal with anxiety and loss, and informing people about the available services in the health center.
MSF has supported several emergency responses in Sudan this year. In August, MSF set up a new clinic in Pagil, Jonglei State, to deal with an alarming increase in the number of patients infected with kala azar—or visceral leishmaniasis. Following July flooding in Red Sea State, MSF donated household items and emergency food to the affected communities. As a result of demonstrations in Al-Fashir in May, an MSF medical team provided additional support in the emergency room and operating theatre and donated emergency medical supplies to Al-Fashir Teaching Hospital.
Currently, MSF works in various locations in North Darfur. MSF runs a clinic in Kaguro and provides a range of services in Shangil Tobaya, Tawila, and Dar Zaghawa, including primary and secondary healthcare in Ministry of Health and MSF facilities, and through community health networks. Additionally, MSF responds to emergencies as they arise. MSF first started working in Darfur in 1985, and has been working in the region continuously since 2004.
MSF has been working in Sudan since 1979, and currently has projects in Warrap, Jonglei, Upper Nile, Unity, Western Bahr El-Ghazal, Northern Bahr El-Ghazal, Western Equatoria, and Central Equatoria states, the transitional area of Abyei, and in North Darfur, Red Sea and Al-Gedaref states.
