Sudan’s ongoing civil conflict has created severe barriers to cancer treatment, compelling patients with limited options to undertake dangerous journeys across war-torn territory. The conflict, which began in 2023 between rival military factions, has displaced approximately 13 million people according to the United Nations, making it the world’s largest displacement crisis at present. Healthcare infrastructure has been heavily damaged, with the World Health Organization reporting that 37% of Sudan’s health care centers have been destroyed by fighting.
Patients seeking cancer treatment now face particularly acute challenges, as most facilities capable of providing oncology services have been destroyed or severely damaged. Medical facilities in major cities such as Nyala in South Darfur, which previously provided accessible cancer diagnosis and treatment, are no longer operational. The Mother of Mercy hospital in the Nuba Mountains, operated by medical missionary Tom Catena, has become one of the few remaining options for patients with long-term illnesses, despite the facility lacking an oncologist on staff and having only one permanent surgeon for the entire mountainous region.
Both warring factions have been accused of indiscriminately targeting health care facilities, with 205 documented attacks on health infrastructure since the war’s start. International aid reductions have further strained the system, with organizations like Doctors Without Borders warning of collapse in an already fragile healthcare network. The disruption of supply chains has made chemotherapy medications and essential drugs difficult to obtain, and diagnostic capabilities are severely limited, requiring tissue samples to be sent to the United States for analysis, a process that can take up to six months.
Cancer patients arriving at Mother of Mercy often present with advanced disease due to delays in seeking care. One patient, a woman diagnosed with cervical cancer in her home city, traveled hundreds of miles through active conflict zones, crossing into South Sudan and navigating drone strikes and military checkpoints. A 10-year-old patient with osteosarcoma similarly traveled by rickshaw from her hometown after the local healthcare system collapsed. Before the conflict, Sudan was recognized as a regional leader in cancer care, a capacity now substantially diminished by ongoing violence and infrastructure destruction.
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