People facing extreme malnutrition in Sudan's protracted crisis

As starved people continue trying to flee atrocities committed by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in El Fasher, Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) teams are providing urgent care to those who have reached the town of Tawila.

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Here MSF is witnessing extreme levels of acute malnutrition, in what is now the most severe example of a malnutrition crisis that has gripped Sudan since the start of the war. For months MSF teams in Tawila have been treating malnutrition among patients who fled El Fasher, but malnutrition rates are now staggering. Among children under the age of five who reached Tawila between 27 October, when RSF seized control of El Fasher, and 3 November, over 70% were acutely malnourished, with 35 percent suffering from severe acute malnutrition. At the same time, 60% of the 1,130 adults MSF screened were acutely malnourished, 37% of whom were severely acutely malnourished. Malnutrition rates are even higher among pregnant and breastfeeding women.

MSF’s findings corroborate fears that famine devastated people in El Fasher, which was besieged for more than 500 days. They also correspond with the recently released IPC report that found famine in El Fasher and in Kadugli.

Survivors arriving in Tawila have described to MSF teams how life had become unbearable in El Fasher. People report having had no access to food, as community kitchens shut down, humanitarian aid was blocked, and markets were shelled and depleted. In September, 7 kg of millet cost SDG 500,000 (USD 208) and 1 kg of sugar SDG 130,000 (USD 54).