Médecins Sans Frontières calls for respect of medical activities and facilities as forced to suspend medical aid in health centre

All other Médecins Sans Frontières medical facilities in Jonglei and Sudan continue.

Following three separate security incidents in one of its remote healthcare clinics, international emergency medical aid organisation, Médecins Sans Frontières has been forced to suspend all activities in Gumuruk, Jonglei State.

Médecins Sans Frontières is calling on all armed groups, community members and political parties in Southern Sudan to respect the neutrality of Médecins Sans Frontières medical staff, activities and facilities, so that lifesaving aid can be urgently delivered to people in need.

“Attacks on our staff and clinics prevent us from providing essential medical aid. These incidents are totally unacceptable as they stop us from accessing patients and put our staff at risk,” said Rob Mulder, Médecins Sans Frontières Head of Mission in Southern Sudan.

Médecins Sans Frontières runs a primary healthcare centre in Pibor town, Jonglei State, and from there also runs two smaller outreach clinics in more remote areas, Lekwongole and Gumuruk, which are only accessible by plane or boat during the current rainy season.

On 1 July an armed group entered Gumuruk clinic, stealing boxes of a therapeutic ready-to-use food needed to treat severely malnourished children. Three days later, 4 July, therapeutic food was again stolen, in addition to medical equipment. Then, on 27 July, while travelling by boat from Pibor to Gumuruk, four Médecins Sans Frontières staff members were violently robbed by armed men.

“Though we are fully committed to providing emergency medical aid to Gumuruk community, we have been left with no other choice than to suspend all medical activities in our outreach clinic,” added Mulder.

The Gumuruk outreach clinic serves a population of more than 30,000 people, providing basic medical care, including general consultations, treatment for malnutrition, antenatal care and vaccinations. Complex medical cases requiring hospitalisation are referred to Médecins Sans Frontières’ bigger clinic in Pibor, from where serious cases in need of surgery are evacuated by Médecins Sans Frontières plane to hospitals in Boma, or in the capital, Juba.

“More than 160 malnourished children were receiving treatment in our Gumuruk clinic. In addition, there were up to 20 new cases of severely malnourished children each week. Unless access to this community improves, it is impossible to evacuate those who need hospitalisation or surgery, including women with obstructed labour, children with cerebral malaria or severe anaemia who need blood transfusions,” said Gbane Mahama, Médecins Sans Frontières Medical Coordinator for Southern Sudan. 

Apart from a small Ministry of Health facility in Pibor town, Médecins Sans Frontières is the only primary healthcare provider in this part of Jonglei State, home to around 150,000 people, where villages are separated by large distances and roads are often impassable.

Médecins Sans Frontières has been working in Sudan since 1979 providing free-of-charge medical assistance to people suffering from the effects of poor access to healthcare, floods, droughts, disease outbreaks, armed conflict and nutritional emergencies.

Médecins Sans Frontières runs clinics and hospitals across ten Sudanese states, including Warrap, Jonglei, Upper Nile, Unity, Northern Bahr-el-Ghazal, Western Equatoria, Central Equatoria, the transitional area of Abyei, Red Sea, Al-Gedaref and North Darfur.

Médecins Sans Frontières is an independent and neutral emergency medical organisation that serves all people based on impartial assessments of need, regardless of race, political, tribal or religious affiliation.