Iran war shipping disruption impacts medicine availability in Sudan

In a small clinic in a remote village in rural Sudan, the shelves of the pharmacy are starting to empty out, with the clinic unsure about when the next shipment of medicines would arrive.

As disruptions to global shipping as a result of the Iran war continue, crucial medicines are not reaching places like this which are already suffering a humanitarian crisis.

The clinic is struggling to support thousands of sick people as Sudan enters its fourth year of civil war with no international aid shipments since December.

Aid groups have been warning that the war with Iran has not only cut off vital shipping routes and created a global energy crisis but it's upended their ability to get food and medicine to millions of people in need around the world.

Key pathways such as the Strait of Hormuz have been effectively shuttered and routes from strategic hubs such as Dubai, Doha, and Abu Dhabi have also been impacted.

Rising transport costs

Transport costs have spiked with higher fuel and insurance rates, meaning less supplies can be delivered with the same amount of money.

The United Nations said there's been up to a 20% cost increase on shipments and delays as goods are rerouted.

Glaucoma patient Abbas Awad said he "really suffered," with money already an issue, now accompanied by the challenges around the war in the Middle East.

"Now you could be cut off from this eyedrops for up to a month. You call [for help getting medicine] from Saudi Arabia, Egypt, or sometimes you have to survive without it. This affected my eye more," he said.

The International Rescue Committee, which supports the clinic where Awad gets some of his medicines said some $130,000 worth of pharmaceuticals, intended for the war-torn country, was stranded in Dubai for weeks and is only now making its way there months late.

Frustration

The IRC said medicines and supplies such as Amoxicillin, Benzylpenicillin, Prednisolone, Ibuprofen, and stethoscopes that were supposed to be flown from the United Arab Emirates to Port Sudan were instead transported by road from the UAE to Oman and then flown out.

The trip added time and money. The supplies were on their way but it will still take time, it said.

Ahmed Ibrahim, who works with IRC at the clinic, said patients were getting frustrated. The last medicine shipment arrived in December.

“When people come to the window, they say why are you here and there is no medicine?" said Ibrahim.

For the some 5,000 people who rely on the public health clinic that IRC supports in Qoz Nafisa, not having access to those medicines means they have to spend their own money, which they often don't have, and search many clinics in order to find what they need.

Just a couple steps away from the clinic, Rashiqa Alqadi has been struggling to get medication for her disabled granddaughter who suffers from severe epilepsy.

She said she has tried everything from driving to other towns to checking groups social media to see if she can get access to the medicine.

For the last three years, it has always been a struggle but since the war in Iran started, finding the medication has become harder.

"Last week especially, we couldn’t get some and even tomorrow we could wake up and look for it, we might find some, we might not,” said Alqadi.