South Sudan’s fragile healthcare system is crumbling as violent clashes sweep across the nation, Doctors Without Borders (MSF) warned Thursday.
Fighting between forces loyal to President Salva Kiir and Vice-President Riek Machar has intensified, triggering widespread displacement and threatening already under-resourced medical services.
While international concern has centred on Upper Nile State, MSF reports violence spreading across Jonglei, Unity, and Western Central Equatoria states.
“This is a major conflict unfolding across multiple fronts,” said MSF operations manager Bakri Abubakr, calling the scale of displacement a “major crisis.”
An estimated 60,000 people have fled in Upper Nile alone, with another 50,000 displaced in Jonglei, leaving entire villages and hospitals deserted.
Health workers have abandoned their posts, and medical centres stand empty as communities flee into the bush, often for weeks at a time.
Even before the recent violence, only half of South Sudan’s health facilities were functioning, Abubakr said, warning of a total collapse.
MSF notes that 80 percent of South Sudan’s healthcare is funded by international partners, while the government contributes a mere 1.3 percent of its budget.
“We’re seeing a rise in attacks on hospitals, health workers, and civilians,” said MSF’s Abdalla Hussein, citing assaults on supply barges and looting of remote clinics.
The United Nations reports eight medical facilities have been struck so far in 2025, but MSF fears the real number is higher.
In Malakal, wounded civilians arrive daily after trekking through forests and swamps, only to find hospitals unable to save them.
“We are yet to see the worst,” warned MSF’s head of mission, Zakariya Mwatia, as the nation stares into the abyss of humanitarian disaster.