S. Sudan – Health Situation Deteriorating 63,500 Refugees

PRESS RELEASE

South Sudan – Health Situation Deteriorating For 63,500 Refugees In Yida Camp

Paris, 13 July 2012. The international medical-humanitarian organisation, Médecins Sans Frontières, is today raising concern for the situation in Yida refugee camp, in Unity State, South Sudan. Fleeing conflict in Southern Kordofan in neighbouring Sudan, close to 500 people a day are arriving at the already overcrowded camp. Despite the efforts of the organisations working in the camp, reception and living conditions for the 63,500 refugees are still utterly inadequate.

The number of people in Yida has more than tripled since April 2012, with the UNHCR reporting a total of 63,500 refugees in an area originally intended for 15,000 people. Having walked for days, and sometimes weeks, the refugees are arriving to South Sudan in extremely poor health.

“Most of our patients are in shock, and hospital mortality is increasing as the camp’s population swells,”, explains Dr Mego Terzian Médecins Sans Frontières emergency desk manager. Given the sheer number of patients, we have to focus our attention on those whose lives are at risk and children suffering from diarrhoea, severe infections and malnutrition.”

The majority of patients in the Médecins Sans Frontières-run hospital are children under five. The number of children admitted has doubled over the past month, increasing from 104 to 209. The percentage of malnourished children has also increased and hospital mortality has more than doubled in a month from 7 percent to 15 percent, mainly due to diarrhoea and severe infections, including pneumonia.

Médecins Sans Frontières teams are doing their utmost to help parents recognise the symptoms that call for a child to be brought to hospital as quickly as possible. However, the onset of the rainy season, coupled with an insufficient water and sanitation supply, is further heightening the risk of disease.

“The majority of consultations in Médecins Sans Frontières’ medical facilities are for waterborne diseases that could be contained if there were enough latrines and adequate access to drinking water,” explains André Heller-Perrache, Head of Mission.

To respond to the ever-increasing needs, Médecins Sans Frontières ,the main medical organisation in the camp, has stepped up its activities by increasing hospital capacity to 60 beds in three additional tents in the hospital. Médecins Sans Frontières is also reinforcing its team of already 80 people.

Médecins Sans Frontières has been working in Yida in South Sudan's Unity State since November 2011. It runs a hospital in the refugee camp and a consultations service, as well as providing medical care at the camp registration point. In June, Médecins Sans Frontières vaccinated over 14,000 children under 15 against measles and continues to vaccinate children aged from 6 months to 5 years at the camp registration point. Other Médecins Sans Frontières teams provide assistance to Sudanese refugees in Upper Nile State.

ENDS

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