New UAE field hospital set up in Chad to support Sudanese refugees

The $20 million multi-speciality centre has 22 doctors and is run by Burjeel Hospital

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  Sheikh Shakhbout bin Nahyan, Minister of State, launches the UAE-sponsored hospital in Abeche, eastern Chad. All photos: Wam

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  The hospital will cater to the needs of the Sudanese people affected by the conflict in their home country

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  Operated by Burjeel Hospital - Abu Dhabi, the centre has 22 doctors and 92 nurses

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  The hospital has an emergency department, laboratory, pharmacy and a fully equipped radiology department

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  The medical and non-medical staff of the new hospital

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  The centre has 50 beds for inpatients and another 10 for those needing critical care

The UAE has established a second field hospital in Chad to provide medical and healthcare services to Sudanese refugees.

The $20 million, 50-bed hospital in the eastern city of Abeche was inaugurated by Sheikh Shakhbout bin Nahyan, Minister of State, on Monday.

It has specialist departments for paediatrics, gynaecology and obstetrics, orthopaedics, general surgery and internal medicine.

It also has an operating room, emergency department, laboratory, pharmacy, a fully equipped radiology department and a 10-bed intensive care unit.

Sudan was plunged into chaos last April when clashes erupted in the capital, Khartoum, between rival forces – the country’s military, led by Gen Abdel Fattah Burhan, and the Rapid Support Forces paramilitary faction, commanded by Gen Mohamed Dagalo.

According to UNHCR, more than 553,000 refugees from Sudan had been counted in Chad by mid-February, meaning the nation was hosting the most displaced Sudanese people since the war started.

Operated by Burjeel Hospital - Abu Dhabi, the new field hospital has 22 doctors, 92 nurses, 12 medical support staff and 41 non-medical support staff.

Sheikh Shakhbout said the opening was part of the support provided to the Sudanese people affected by the conflict in their home country, since the war began in April 2023.

Over the past five years, the UAE has provided about $467 million worth of aid to Chad, of which $100 million went to support Sudanese refugees.

In July, another field hospital opened in Amdjarass offering medical services to those in need, especially children, the elderly and women.

Sudan tops the International Rescue Committee’s emergency watchlist, which looks at countries most likely to experience a deteriorating humanitarian crisis, because of the escalating conflict, mass displacement, economic crisis and a near collapse of healthcare services.

The conflict has left 25 million people – more than half of Sudan’s population – in need.

The Sudan conflict - in pictures

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  Children who fled Sudan's Khartoum and Jazira states to escape the civil war are living in a camp for the internally displaced in Gadaref state. All photos: AFP

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  After nearly a year of war, Sudan is suffering one of the worst humanitarian crises in recent history, the UN has warned

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  There has barely been any let up in the fighting between the Sudanese army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF)

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  The UN said about 730,000 children in Sudan, including more than 240,000 in Darfur, are believed to be suffering from severe acute malnutrition

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  About eight million people have been displaced by the war, which has destroyed the nation’s infrastructure

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  Many are stuck in tented camps like this one in Gadaref. The UN said 18 million of Sudan's 48 million people are acutely food insecure, five million of whom have reached the last level before famine

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  The Security Council this month called for an immediate ceasefire during Ramadan and better access to humanitarian aid

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  'Since then, I regret to report that there has not been major progress on the ground,' said Edem Wosornu, a UN director of humanitarian operations

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  Meanwhile, heavy fighting continues in what has become a war of attrition

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  But much suffering prevails among the internally displaced

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  Relief operations are 'severely hampered' by a lack of access and resources, the UN said

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  The UN also called on regional powers to stop supplying arms to the warring parties in Sudan immediately, but there is no end in sight to the brutal civil war