Dr. Jamal Eltaeb has been awarded the 2025 Aurora Prize for Awakening Humanity for keeping Al Nao Hospital operating as one of the last functioning facilities in greater Khartoum despite bombardment, shortages, and Sudan’s collapsing health system.
The Aurora Humanitarian Initiative announced Thursday that Dr. Jamal Eltaeb has been awarded the 2025 Aurora Prize for Awakening Humanity. He was recognized for his work maintaining Al Nao Hospital in Omdurman as one of the last functioning referral hospitals in greater Khartoum during Sudan’s civil war. The $1 million prize honors individuals who risk their lives to save others.
Since conflict escalated between rival military factions in April 2023, Dr. Eltaeb has navigated repeated bombardments, infrastructure collapse, and acute shortages of electricity and medical supplies, including anesthesia. The hospital has faced conditions where surgery must be performed with almost no anesthesia, and the facility itself has sustained damage from shelling.
Born in Kordofan to a police officer and a teacher, Dr. Eltaeb studied medicine in Belarus before specializing in orthopedic surgery and traumatology at Alexandria University in Egypt. He explained his motivation: “Growing up, I saw how fragile life can be and how much difference one person’s care and knowledge can make. I wanted to be a doctor because I wanted to serve people in their most vulnerable moments.”
The United Nations has described Sudan’s civil war as the most devastating humanitarian crisis in the world. According to the Aurora Humanitarian Initiative, Dr. Eltaeb works with no electricity, dwindling anesthesia, and constant risk of attack, while patients arrive with injuries from shelling and gunfire. A cholera outbreak several months ago compounded the crisis, and the hospital continues to see rising malnutrition and preventable deaths.
Among the cases that remain with Dr. Eltaeb is that of two siblings, Tagwa and Faris. The children were critically injured when a missile struck near the market where they had gone to buy something for their mother. Dr. Eltaeb had to amputate Tagwa’s leg and her brother’s leg and arm in the emergency room with almost no anesthesia available. Their mother arrived three hours later, expecting to find them dead.
In an interview with NPR, Dr. Eltaeb described the working conditions: “Providing care with almost nothing is one of the hardest things that any person can ever do. And every day we work in the impossible conditions with barely enough to keep people alive. And we run out of medicines, supplies, clean water, electricity. Even the simplest medical tools.”
Dr. Eltaeb was selected through a process that considered more than 800 nominations. The ceremony, held on Ellis Island, also recognized outstanding 2025 Aurora Humanitarians Sally Becker, Dr. Zouhair Lahna, and Dr. Jill Seaman.
Lord Ara Darzi, Chair of the Aurora Prize Selection Committee and Co-Director of the Institute of Global Health Innovation at Imperial College London, stated: “In the face of unimaginable danger and deprivation, Dr. Eltaeb has shown what true humanitarian leadership looks like.”
Dr. Eltaeb sustains his work by focusing on the lives saved rather than the losses, and he credits his family for helping him endure: “Talking to my wife and children helps ease the pain. Hearing their voices gives me comfort and reminds me what I am fighting for, even in the hardest moments.”
When asked by NPR what keeps him going, Dr. Eltaeb responded: “There are days when the suffering feels too heavy to carry, when you wonder if what you are doing will ever be enough. But then you’ll see a wounded patient begin to heal. You hear a child taking a breath. And I think at that moment, you feel an internal strength to continue working.”
Regarding the Aurora Prize recognition, Dr. Eltaeb said: “It is a symbol of hope. It honors those who put compassion above their own safety and reminds the world that courage and kindness still exist.”
Watch this video to learn more about Dr. Eltaeb:
2025 Aurora Humanitarian Dr. Jamal Eltaeb, an orthopedic surgeon and head of traumatology at Al Nao Hospital in Omdurman, continues to keep its doors open in the chaos of Sudan’s civil war. One of the last functioning referral hospitals in the greater Khartoum area, Al Nao serves the wounded and displaced seeking care amid bombardment and collapsing infrastructure. To date, Dr. Eltaeb’s commitment has saved hundreds of lives under difficult conditions: he works with no electricity, dwindling anesthesia, and a constant risk of attack.
This summary is based on the following articles:
- 2025 Aurora Prize for Awakening Humanity Awarded to Dr. Jamal Eltaeb, from the Aurora Humanitarian Initiative
- The Doctor Who Turns Compassion into Action, from the Aurora Humanitarian Initiative
- Doctor in Sudan wins $1 million prize for his extraordinary courage: ‘It is my duty,’ by Arundathi Nair for NPR’s Goats and Soda
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