Sudan Braces for Drug Shortages as War on Iran Impacts Supplies

20 March 2026

A pharmacist discusses the acute shortage of medicines at a drugstore in Khartoum, Sudan, March 20, 2026

March 20, 2026 (KHARTOUM) – The war against Iran is raising fears of severe medicine shortages in Sudan as manufacturing and import costs surge three weeks after the conflict began.

Sudanese authorities are preparing for the worst-case scenario. The country’s domestic production is already crippled by years of civil war and a lack of foreign currency.

Official data shows that about 85% of Sudan’s industrial sector has been damaged since 2023. This includes factories in Khartoum that previously produced 80 types of medication.

Health Minister Haitham Mohamed Ibrahim met with pharmaceutical officials last week to discuss drug availability amid the escalating conflict in the Gulf.

Ibrahim said the government is looking to ensure supplies through the National Medical Supplies Fund and is seeking new international partnerships.

The meeting also reviewed plans for the “Teryaq” industrial city and a World Health Organization proposal for regional procurement.

Experts told Sudan Tribune that the Middle East conflict will cause delivery delays and significantly higher shipping costs.

Mohamed Bashir, secretary-general of the National Medicines and Poisons Board, said Sudan has activated protocols with countries outside the Gulf.

Bashir said the government is expanding contract manufacturing and reviewing strategic stocks of life-saving drugs for cancer and kidney disease.

Walid Mohamed Ahmed, head of the medicine importers’ division, said insurance and transport costs have jumped by up to 120%.

Ahmed said that while Port Sudan is still receiving older orders, new shipments are facing significant delays. Air freight costs have also risen.Sudan travel guide

Even alternative suppliers like Egypt and Turkey are affected because their raw materials from China and India pass through conflict zones, Ahmed added.

Economic analyst Haitham Mohamed Fathi said rising oil prices will drive up the final cost of medical products.

Fathi urged the government to form an emergency committee to monitor critical stocks, despite Sudan’s main shipping routes from Europe remaining open.

He suggested the crisis could be an opportunity for Sudan to move production to safer states in the centre and east.

By mid-2024, Sudan’s strategic reserves of essential medicines had already dropped to less than 20% of pre-war levels.