9 March 2025
Mar 8, 2025 by 500 Words Magazine -

Sudan Mourns the Death of Dr Gaafar Ibnauf

Dr Gaafar Ibnauf Suliman, a renowned pediatric doctor, consultant, and professor at the University of Khartoum, passed away on 6 March 2025, in Abu Dhabi, UAE, at the age of 83, after battling a long illness.

Born in 1942, Dr Gaafar is the founder of the Dr Gaafar Ibnauf Children’s Hospital and the recipient of the European Unions’ Champions of Human Rights Award 2016.

He established the first and largest paediatric specialised hospital in Sudan in 1977 under the supervision of Professor Gaafar Ibnauf Suliman and the Sudanese Ministry of Health, with assistance from UNICEF. The hospital was originally opened as the Children’s Emergency Hospital (CEH) which later evolved into 16 wards, a pharmacy, radiology department, nutritional rehabilitation and vaccination units, administration, records and statistics units. Because of Dr Gaafar’s dedicated efforts leading to the establishment of the first paediatric specialised hospital in Sudan, the hospital was renamed Dr Gaafar Ibnauf Children’s Hospital in 2002 in an official ceremony attended by former Sudanese President Omar Al Bashir who awarded Dr Gaafar the Medal of Achievement.

Dr Gaafar worked as the Chairman of the Board of Directors at Gaafar Ibnauf Children’s Hospital (GICH), Chairman of the Board of Paediatrics and Child Health in the Sudan Medical Council, and as the Senior Paediatrician at the Ministry of Health.

Dr Gaafar continued his work in building and equipping pediatric hospitals across Sudan. He developed health programmes for Eastern Sudan and Eastern Equatoria, including the National Diarrheal Diseases Program, and initiated training programs while conducting various healthcare activities throughout Sudan. He equipped 60 centers in Khartoum and established a unit at the Fath-Elrahman Elbasheer Referral Centre to educate mothers on child nutrition and vaccination. Additionally, he dedicated years to caring for children in orphanages.

Dr Gaafar was also an influential figure in international medical circles. He was one of the founders of the Arab Board of Pediatrics and served as Chair of the Examination Committee for 10 years. As a researcher and director, he collaborated on studies with institutions such as the ADE Nutrition Society in Paris, the Global Scientific Working Group in Switzerland, the School of Tropical Medicine in Liverpool, and Uppsala University. He actively contributed to undergraduate and postgraduate teaching, structured courses, trained paramedical staff in pediatrics across Sudan, and supervised numerous MD theses for pediatric registrars. His extensive research was published in both national and international journals, and he contributed to eight textbooks on pediatrics and child health.

Dr Gaafar completed his university studies at the University of Khartoum (UofK) in 1967. He specialised in paediatrics in UK in 1973, where he got the magnetic resonance cholangiopancreatography (MRCP) and the Diploma in Child Health (DCH) and was later awarded the Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians (FRCP) and the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health (RCPCH). He continued to work in Sudan where he was also awarded an MD degree (by research) from UofK, Fellowship of the Sudan Medical Specialization Board (FSMS) and Honorary Doctoral Degree (PhD) from Ahfad University for Women.

Dr Gaafar participated actively in a multitude of international and national paediatric conferences and was a guest speaker to many of them in UK, Sweden, USA, Canada, Switzerland, Saudi Arabia and Oman. He has been the President of the Sudan Association of Paediatricians (SAP, 1991–2001) and continued to be a member of the Editorial Board of the Sudanese Journal of Paediatrics (SJP).

Many took to social media to mourn his loss.

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Mar 5, 2025
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