‘Deadly Medicines’: A New Catastrophe Ravages Sudan

Sudan’s crises, born of the war that has raged since April 2023, are many, but they all converge on a single outcome: death for the people. Now, a new and terrifying development has emerged, with the spread of counterfeit medicines triggering alarm nationwide, after reports of deaths linked to expired or falsified drugs.“ Four days […]

Sudan’s crises, born of the war that has raged since April 2023, are many, but they all converge on a single outcome: death for the people. Now, a new and terrifying development has emerged, with the spread of counterfeit medicines triggering alarm nationwide, after reports of deaths linked to expired or falsified drugs.“

Four days after my mother’s death, I found the medicine she had been taking for malaria. One glance at the expiration date was enough to shock me – it read 2018,” Sudanese woman Salwa told Sudan Tribune on September 27, 2025.
Her voice breaking with grief, Salwa recalled the struggle of finding medicine for her mother amid the chaos engulfing Khartoum, where she lives in the South Belt area. She finally obtained it from Omdurman’s Sabreen market. “I thought I was saving her, after long months of traditional remedies had failed,” she said. “But what I believed was a lifeline became the cause of her death. I accept God’s will, but I will never forgive myself for not checking the expiration date.”
A Widespread Phenomenon

Pharmacist Dr. Baha al-Din al-Haj explains that Sudan has long suffered from counterfeit drugs of unknown origin, known locally as “Koko.” He noted that this deadly trade flourished after the 2021 coup and has worsened catastrophically during the current war.
“Because of the war, most of the medicines now sold and distributed are counterfeit and of unknown source,” he told Sudan Tribune.

He warned that such drugs pose a lethal public health threat, consumed unknowingly by patients though they contain toxic substances or incorrect dosages, leading to poisoning, treatment failure, and worsening illness.
“These products also accelerate the spread of drug-resistant infections, especially against malaria and antibiotics,” he added. “In today’s Sudan, where greed meets lawlessness, it’s no longer just expired drugs we face—but entire markets filled with fake medicines alongside a handful of genuine ones.”

Former Medicines Council employee Ammar Mohammed added: “The losses are no longer confined to human lives. The state itself suffers devastating economic losses, with its health system collapsing and patients dying either from lack of medicines or from ingesting poisonous ones.”

A Collapsing Health System

Sudan’s health system is in free fall, with 80% of facilities out of service – many destroyed by army airstrikes. Meanwhile, cholera continues to spread, killing victims even as remaining facilities fail to meet the needs of millions of civilians, according to International Committee of the Red Cross spokesman in Khartoum, Adnan Hezam.

Hezam warned that “the cholera epidemic poses a growing threat, particularly in Darfur, where the Ministry of Health recorded more than 100,000 suspected cases and 1,500 confirmed deaths in the past year.” He said the Red Cross has prioritized health sector support, treating over 7,100 cholera cases, assisting isolation centers and field clinics, and providing clean water and sanitation projects. More than 82,000 displaced people in Tawila, north of El-Fasher, also received hygiene supplies and health awareness campaigns.

Attacks on Medical Facilities

Medical facilities have become deliberate targets. On September 21, 2025, the Sudanese Human Rights Observatory reported that more than 70% of hospitals in war-affected states or conflict zones were no longer functioning, or operating only partially. Doctors and nurses have faced direct threats, particularly those working in conflict zones or known for their humanitarian neutrality. Others have been subjected to arbitrary arrests and accusations of “collaboration.”

On August 31, 2025, the Emergency Lawyers of Sudan group reported that at least 12 people were killed in a drone strike on a clinic in Nyala, capital of South Darfur, then under the control of Ta’sis forces. They blamed Port Sudan’s forces for the attack.
A source told AFP that the strike hit the Yashfin clinic, and initial reports suggested the death toll could be much higher, with civilians and medical workers among the casualties.

Earlier, on June 24, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said more than 40 people, including children and health workers, were killed in an attack on a Sudanese hospital. The Emergency Lawyers accused the army of the strike, saying the targeted hospital housed a dialysis unit vital to patients, making the attack a grave violation of humanitarian law.

Separately, the local “Mujlad Emergency Room” group accused the army of repeated attacks on hospitals and shelters. On Facebook, it declared such actions “war crimes in full,” adding that hospitals, shelters, and essential services had been systematically targeted, most recently the displacement center in Abu Zabad, where dozens were killed or injured.

A Call to Restrain the Army

At the same time, Sudan faces outbreaks of several epidemics – some described as “mysterious” – that some link to chemical contamination, particularly given that the Sudanese army has twice deployed chemical weapons, according to the U.S. State Department.

On September 25, 2025, the Sudanese Alliance for Rights (SAR) announced it had filed a case with the International Criminal Court against four senior leaders in Port Sudan, including Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, over accusations of chemical weapons use and grave violations against civilians since the war began in April 2023.

SAR said it is working with international lawyers. It also lodged a complaint with the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights regarding these violations, and another with the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, demanding an urgent investigation and suspension of Port Sudan’s membership. The alliance warned that continued international silence “encourages impunity.”