Cash crunch closing WHO clinics in Sudan war zones

Dozens of health facilities supported by the World Health Organization in strife-torn areas of Sudan risk closure due to a lack of funds, exposing one million people to likely epidemics.

Eleven clinics have already been shut in Darfur, Blue Nile and South Kordofan, where years of fighting between government troops and black African rebels has forced tens of thousands of people to flee their homes.

As an acute cash crunch worsens and with the world's eyes focused on other conflicts such as Syria, another 49 facilities in these regions are also at risk, the WHO head in Sudan, said Naeema al-Gasseer.