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By Emmanuel Michael Garjiek
The Doctors Without Borders (MSF) expressed concern on Monday about the intensifying armed hostilities in South Sudan’s Upper Nile state, which have uprooted hundreds and limited access to healthcare amid a cholera outbreak.
According to a press statement provided to media houses , as people escape for safety, cholera spreads swiftly, killing lives and exacerbating the humanitarian disaster.
MSF teams are actively addressing to urgent medical needs in numerous sites around Upper Nile State, including Ulang, Malakal, and Renk counties, by delivering lifesaving care and increasing activities throughout the Sobat corridor to reach more people affected by violence and cholera.
“We call on all parties to the conflict to respect and protect civilians, medical facilities, and humanitarian workers, as well as to grant unhindered humanitarian access to people being affected by the violence and cholera, in line with international humanitarian law,” said Zakaria Mwatia, MSF Head of Mission in South Sudan. “As an independent medical organization, we provide care to all in need regardless of their armed or political affiliations.”
The medical organization reported that since the beginning of March, they had treated over 400 cholera patients in Ulang and offered trauma care to more than 30 patients injured in the ongoing violence. MSF teams are also assisting several local health institutions along the Nile and Sobat rivers. MSF also runs a hospital at the Malakal Protection of Civilians (PoC) camp and provides support to Malakal Teaching Hospital.
“Our teams in Renk County have recently expanded support for surgical services at Renk County Hospital, in addition to primary healthcare to the displaced people from Sudan at the refugees and returnees’ sites in Atham, Girbanat and Gosfami,” Mwatia said. “Cholera has already spread to the neighboring Jonglei State, where we are running a 100-bed cholera treatment unit at Akobo County Hospital and the MSF hospital in Lankien, treating patients including those from Upper Nile State.”
“With cholera spreading rapidly and violence still ongoing, the need for medical care in Upper Nile State is more critical than ever!” concluded the MSF Head of Mission in South Sudan.
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