Sudanese female medics risk everything for their patients: Video
When war erupted in April 2023, overwhelming Sudan’s hospitals, female doctors faced an impossible choice - stay with their families or remain on the front lines of the country’s collapsing healthcare system.
With up to 90% of hospitals in conflict zones forced to shut down, many female medical professionals chose to stay, risking their lives to save others.
“I could either be with my children, or I could stay and do my duty,” says one of the doctors who remained in Khartoum in an interview with the AFP.
Since the conflict began, at least 78 health workers have been killed, according to Sudan’s Doctors’ Union, as hospitals continue to face attacks, supply shortages, and an exodus of medical professionals fleeing the violence.
For some, the decision to stay was deeply personal. Dr. Fathia Abdelmajed, a paediatrician at Al-Buluk Hospital, has not left since she arrived at the facility, determined to guide younger doctors who had been working tirelessly since the start of the war.
“Since I arrived at Al-Buluk, I have not left it. Even the specialists were once our students, and we trained them,” she says. “I was the only senior doctor. These hardworking young professionals had been working since the beginning of the war, even before I arrived. They truly accomplished great things, and I became like a mother to them, offering guidance and support,” said Dr Abdelmajed.
Others, like Dr. Safaa Ali, a gynaecologist and director of Saudi Hospital, stayed out of devotion to their country and profession.
“I have been working since the start of the war. I have not left Sudan. We find strength in our love for our country, our passion for our work, and the oath we swore,” she says.
But the decision came at a high personal cost. As her own family fled Sudan.
“My family, like many others, decided to leave Sudan because children started getting scared, and our area had become a conflict zone. It was extremely dangerous. When they made the decision to leave, and I had to make my own, I stayed up all night thinking. In the end, my professional commitment took precedence over my family obligations,” she explains.
The hospitals still operating have increasingly relied on volunteer networks, such as the local Emergency Response Rooms, to fill the gaps.
