Port Sudan – One year’s supply of life-saving HIV and tuberculosis (TB) medicines worth US$ 3 million arrived in Port Sudan, as part of the United Nations Development Programme’s (UNDP) response to the crisis in Sudan with the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria (Global Fund). Other essential medicines, including insulin, were also delivered with UNDP support.

Weighing 33 tons, these medicines will meet Sudan’s current need to maintain HIV treatment for 11,000 people and treat 2,000 TB cases through public hospitals and primary health centres that remain operational.

Civilian displacement has exceeded 4.5 million people, including 3.6 million people within Sudan, and continues at an alarming rate. Displacement and the lack of health services are disrupting HIV and TB treatment courses, which increase the risk of death, drug resistance and disease transmission.

Ensuring continuity of treatment is therefore a priority and UNDP is supporting the National HIV/TB Programme in mapping operational health facilities and tracing all patients requiring HIV and TB treatment.

UNDP is committed to providing life-saving medical treatment and rehabilitating health systems across Sudan during the current crisis. UNDP support follows previous shipments of critical medical supplies and equipment, financed by the Global Fund, since the conflict began.

This latest shipment is part of UNDP’s Sudan Emergency Community Stabilization Offer, which is supporting access to healthcare, continuity of agricultural production, access to emergency employment and expanding essential services, including clean energy and solar-powered water systems. UNDP support will help safeguard socio-economic progress, while addressing underlying development deficits that cause conflict.

UNDP’s Sudan Emergency Community Stabilization Offer is in addition to support provided to the United Nations Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) for crisis response in Sudan. Total CERF funding for this crisis has reached US$ 60 million. While humanitarian needs soar in Sudan, the funding remains critically low with 26 percent of the US$ 2.6 billion Humanitarian Response Plan received so far.

In addition to its efforts in the healthcare sector, UNDP is actively working to support Sudan in various other areas impacted by the ongoing conflict, including providing assistance to improve livelihoods, access to education, and essential infrastructure rehabilitation. By supporting both immediate humanitarian needs and long-term recovery, UNDP is committed to ensuring a comprehensive and holistic response to the crisis in Sudan.

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For media enquiries please contact Lameese Badr at lameese.badr@undp.org