The United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS)
Better diagnostic services and healthcare for people in Sudan
UNOPS and the Italian Agency for Development Cooperation are improving health services for 2.8 million people – including 175,000 internally displaced persons – living in Kassala State.
Access to critical basic services for people in Sudan has deteriorated due to the ongoing conflict, which also caused one of the largest displacements of people in the world. Healthcare for millions of people has been limited – and is no longer fully available throughout the conflict-affected country.
Almost three million people living in Kassala State now have access to better diagnostic services, thanks to the Kassala Health Citadel Project. With $10.7 million in funding from the Italian Agency for Development Cooperation (AICS), UNOPS is implementing the project.
“The establishment of the Kassala Health Citadel health complex should be regarded as a best practice of Italian Cooperation in Sudan's health sector,” said Isabella Lucaferri, Head of the AICS office in Addis Ababa.
This project has delivered tangible benefits to the local and displaced population of Kassala and has produced high-quality results, thanks to the successful collaboration with UNOPS."
The rehabilitation of the ground floor of the diagnostic centre allowed for the introduction of new diagnostic services for brain and heart conditions. Rooms housing x-ray, computed tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans, mammography, lithotripsy and doppler ultrasound machines were also renovated.
"This project is supporting the Kassala State Ministry of Health's healthcare strategy of improving access to medical services to everyone in the community, including displaced persons from the recent conflict in Sudan,” said Munier Gaafar Mohammed, UNOPS Country Manager in Sudan.
The works also included expanding the reception and waiting area as well as ensuring that, for the first time, the washrooms in the toilets are accessible for people with disabilities.
“One of the most important services is the CT scan, which serves all Kassala residents and internally displaced persons, which is a rare service currently in Sudan,” said Dr. Ali Adam, Director General of Health, Kassala State and Acting Minister of Health and Social Development.
UNOPS previously rehabilitated the first floor of the diagnostic centre (where new microbiology and histophysiology labs were established), reconstructed medical and staff rooms, and rehabilitated and expanded the blood bank.
The project also includes rehabilitating and constructing public facility blocks in the maternity hospital, and constructing new general surgery units.
