Healthcare in South Sudan

Healthcare in South Sudan

Against the background set out by Avelino, it is interesting to look in a little more detail at the healthcare aspects of the work in South Sudan. We have already noted that South Sudan was classified (by the United Nations Development Programme) as the second to last country of the world in terms of development. This implies that three areas are completely lacking or neglected: education, health and professional training.

The availability of health cover in this country is devastating. In Europe, there is one doctor for approximately 250 patients, in the UK about 300. The World Health Organization recommends one doctor for 400 patients. In Africa, the situation is obviously worse. In Kenya, for example, there is one doctor for 3,600 patients and one nurse for 1,200 patients. But even this can hardly be compared with the Republic of South Sudan, where there is one doctor for 65,000 patients and one nurse for 39,000 patients. These figures themselves speak of the current situation of health cover in this country. 

The St. Peter Health Centre was opened in Ave Maria in 2019, initially as an emergency room. Later, a proper health centre was built, effectively becoming a small hospital, with the nearest facility for referrals being Nzara Mission Hospital – as Avelino says, a nine hours’ drive away. For most people this is not an option, as many patients will have died before arrival at the hospital.

The staff at the St. Peter Health Centre consists of one clinical officer from Congo, two nurses (from Kenya and Uganda), four locally trained health practitioners and one counsellor. There are no fully qualified doctors. Medicines have to be sourced from Kenya and Uganda and funding is tight.

The area covered is extensive, with patients from a radius of 40 miles around and the health workers try their best to do home visits, especially for very sick and elderly patients who cannot get to the health facility. 

With only two consultation rooms, one examination and treatment room, a laboratory, pharmacy and one male and one female ward, the St. Peter Health Centre does not have a maternity facility, but this is something the team is working on. Other developments are the purchase of bicycles and a motor bike to enable more home visits to be made and to increase the funding available for the better provision of medicines. Although there is support for medicines from Spanish hotel-chain Hoteles Barceló, increases in the number of patients mean there is still a shortfall.

In addition to the regular work, an annual eye-health campaign is conducted at the St. Peter Health Centre. This is a service offered free by a team of Spanish ophthalmologists. During the campaign, the laboratory is turned into a theatre and the last time they visited, they saw more than 600 patients and conducted a total of 149 successful eye operations.

This is a story of progress against the odds. Clearly, the St. Peter Health Centre cannot provide the standard of healthcare provided elsewhere, but given the remoteness of the region, the surrounding conflict and violence, and the limited facilities, a great deal is being accomplished. And with New Ways’ help, thanks to our supporters, donors and volunteers, a great deal… even a great deal more, can be achieved.

Please watch our video:

… and you might like to support the vital healthcare needs at Ave Maria by visiting our fundraising page:

https://app.goodhub.com/southsudanhealth

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