Late on Wednesday afternoon, trucks rolled into East Darfur bringing the first TB, HIV and malaria medicines to reach the area for more than a year. 

The convoy was a joint effort between the Federal Ministry of Health, National Medical Supplies Fund, UNDP and UNICEF, who have been working for months to open up access and overcome logistics challenges. In total more than 300 boxes were delivered, including essential HIV, TB and malaria medicines and laboratory diagnostic supplies, all procured as part of the Global Fund’s support to healthcare in Sudan.

“This is a huge boost for healthcare in the Darfur region and the result of months of work,” said Luca Renda, UNDP Resident Representative. “As soon as the call came through that these supplies had finally arrived there were celebrations. It’s genuinely lifesaving because, for the first time since the war, patients who desperately need treatment will be able to get drugs from their local healthcare facilities instead of facing empty shelves.”

The supplies include antiretroviral medicines for people living with HIV and TB medicines. There is also diagnostic equipment to make sure patients get the care they need and to reduce infections by identifying them before they spread.

The medicines and other supplies will now be distributed to local clinics serving people across Central Darfur, East Darfur, West Darfur and South Darfur, which have consistently remained inaccessible since April 2023. The supplies should be sufficient to last for the next five months. 

Darfur region has been devastated by the conflict and faces some of the worst health conditions of any part of Sudan, with famine already declared in one area.

“In these conditions, people’s immune systems are already weakened so medicines for TB and HIV are even more essential.” said Luca Renda.

These supplies are arriving at a critical time, but the delivery comes on the back of years of work to support national healthcare systems in Sudan. Since April 2023, Global Fund programmes have allowed UNDP to procure and deliver on the ground 132 tones of medical supplies and support the Federal Ministry of Health to enhance storage and distribution systems and ensure continuity of operation for the National HIV/TB programme, as well as the training of frontline health care providers to run labs and administer treatments. 

These actions have ensured continuity of HIV treatment for almost 12,000 people living with HIV and around 13,000 people affected by TB. 

Over the coming months we expect to install four plants to provide medical oxygen, provide solar power for 110 health facilities, deliver incinerators for medical waste management and support the health sector in emergency preparedness, prevention and response. We will also operationalize nine mobile Primary Health Care Units in collaboration with UN Migration.

For further details of our work with the Global Fund to help fight illness and improve government healthcare systems in Sudan, see:

https://www.undp.org/sudan/health-development