In the Nuba Mountains, the Mother of Mercy Hospital — run by medical missionary Tom Catena — has become a referral site for patients with cancer and other chronic illnesses displaced by Sudan’s civil war. The conflict, which began in 2023 when rival factions fought for control of the military, has severely disrupted the country’s health system and damaged or destroyed numerous hospitals and clinics.
Both sides in the conflict have been accused of attacking health facilities. The United Nations has documented 205 attacks on health care facilities since the start of the war. The World Health Organization reports that roughly 37% of Sudan’s health centers have been destroyed. Combined with cuts to international aid, these losses have pushed an already fragile system to the brink and left many people without access to previously available services.
Patients with cancers such as cervical cancer, osteosarcoma, and colon cancer have traveled hundreds of miles to reach Mother of Mercy because local hospitals have been damaged or rendered nonfunctional. The article profiles several patients whose experiences illustrate common barriers: long, dangerous travel; food scarcity and financial strain; exposure to aerial strikes; and checkpoints that delay or prevent movement.
One woman diagnosed with cervical cancer in Nyala, South Darfur, sold livestock and relied on family support to pay for a private diagnosis. She traveled across conflict zones, including a trip through South Sudan, and ultimately reached the Nuba Mountains for chemotherapy. She returned multiple times for follow-up and additional treatment, uncertain whether cure was achievable.
A 10-year-old girl with osteosarcoma left her hometown in West Kordofan and arrived at Mother of Mercy in severe pain; her affected limb required hip-level amputation and she received two doses of chemotherapy. Another patient, a 76-year-old man from South Sudan with colon cancer, deteriorated in hospital and died during the reporting visit.
These stories reflect broader patterns: by the time patients access care at Mother of Mercy, malignancies are often advanced and clinical needs are complex.
Before the war, Sudan had capacity for regional cancer care; a 2025 paper in Global Oncology described the nation as once being a regional leader. The conflict has interrupted supply chains for chemotherapy and other essential medications. International charities have struggled to restore services quickly.
Mother of Mercy has managed to provide chemotherapy to patients with few alternatives — the reporting notes occasions when staff administered roughly 15 doses of chemotherapy in a single day. However, shortages and logistical constraints limit consistent, guideline-based cancer treatment.
Diagnostic capacity has also been affected. The hospital lacks on-site pathology resources and an oncologist, so tissue samples must be sent abroad for review. The turnaround for biopsy results can be as long as six months, forcing clinicians to rely on bedside clinical judgment and to treat cancers that are visually or symptomatically apparent.
Mother of Mercy operates without a permanent oncologist. Catena, who trained in family medicine and now serves as the only permanent surgeon in the Nuba Mountains, leads a team delivering surgical and medical care under constrained conditions. Limited diagnostic equipment, the absence of local pathology services, and the inability to perform comprehensive staging restrict treatment planning.
Referral options are distant and frequently inaccessible. The nearest hospital estimated to offer more comprehensive cancer care is in Port Sudan, approximately 700 miles away across active frontlines. Active fighting, shifting control of territory, and long distances make referral impractical for many patients.
International organizations cited in the reporting provide context for the scale of the crisis: the United Nations estimate of about 13 million people forced to flee their homes in Sudan; the U.N. count of 205 attacks on health facilities; and WHO reporting that 37% of health centers have been destroyed. The article also references a continental context: WHO recorded 560,000 cancer deaths in Africa in 2022, underscoring the preexisting cancer burden in the region.
Aid organizations, including Doctors Without Borders, have warned that reductions in international assistance and repeated attacks on health infrastructure are accelerating the collapse of health care services and leaving millions without care.
Because diagnostic delays and supply shortages prevent early detection and timely treatment, many patients present with late-stage disease. The story documents severe outcomes: a child requiring hip amputation for osteosarcoma, repeated long-distance travel for chemotherapy, and deaths among patients who arrived too late to be rescued by limited available care.
The reporting emphasizes that patients with chronic illnesses are “indirect casualties of war.” They remain in need during conflicts — as in Gaza and Ukraine — but face collapsing systems and diminishing access to life-prolonging therapies.
The Mother of Mercy Hospital provides a critical, though limited, safety net for cancer patients in a region where war has dismantled much of the health system. Staff deliver whatever chemotherapy and surgeries they can, often operating without specialist support or timely diagnostics. Patients endure repeated, perilous journeys, financial hardship, and prolonged uncertainty about outcomes.
Reporting for this story was supported by The Pulitzer Center.