Sudan’s war destroys world’s only research centre for skin disease
Sudan’s war has destroyed the world’s only research centre dedicated to mycetoma, a neglected tropical disease which commonly affects farmers, Al-Monitor via AFP reported on April 24th.
The Mycetoma Research Centre (MRC), based in Khartoum, served as a global hub for treating this progressively destructive infection. Caused by bacteria or fungi, mycetoma goes through the body through cuts and spreads to skin, muscle, and bone. It often leads to swollen feet, growths that are like barnacles and hands that are club-like.
Ahmed Fahal, MRC’s director, confirmed that the war wiped out the centre and its infrastructure. “We lost the entire contents of our biological banks, which held data from more than 40 years,” he said. The centre had treated thousands of patients from Sudan and beyond and hosted 50 researchers. Each year, the centre treated 12,000 patients.
Sudan’s civil war erupted on April 15, 2023, between the army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF). The MRC sits in the Khartoum area, which the army recently recaptured. The conflict has killed tens of thousands and displaced over 12 million people. The World Health Organization now says Sudan’s health care system has reached “breaking point.”
Footage shared by the Drugs for Neglected Diseases initiative (DNDi) revealed the extent of the damage: fallen ceilings, open fridges and scattered documents. Although AFP could not independently confirm the centre’s current state.
In 2019, Khartoum hosted the first international training workshop on the disease, which was organised by the WHO and the Sudanese government. “Today, Sudan, once at the forefront, has gone 100 percent backwards,” Dr. Borna Nyaoke-Anoke, DNDi’s head of mycetoma, said.
Al-Monitor via AFP
