This weeks featured project : Médecins Sans Frontières Australia

August 2004

SUDAN :: Malaria rates increase dramatically in southern Sudanese region

Médecins Sans Frontières teams are closely monitoring the worryingly high rates of malaria which has struck the Bahr el Ghazal region of southern Sudan. Statistics compiled from Médecins Sans Frontières clinics across the region show that nearly 3800 people have tested positive for the disease in the last four weeks.

“This figure is over double that for the corresponding period in 2003,” explains Médecins Sans Frontières head of mission for southern Sudan, Tiffany Moore. “And what is particularly concerning is that the rainy season has not yet fully arrived, and that is normally the time when the number of malaria cases peaks.”

Atak Akec and her 2 and a half year old son Abuk Garang. Atak has previously lost 5 children. Her son Abuk has just been diagnosed with malaria. Akeum Primary Health Centre, Bahr El Ghazal, Southern Sudan.	xxAthui Deng Ngor and her 2 and a half year old son Thuk Malok Ngong. Thuk has just been diagnosed with Malaria at an Medicins Sans Frontieres primary health unit in Mangar Angui, near Akeum in Bahr El Ghazal, Southern Sudan.
Photos © David Levene

The young are especially vulnerable to the disease and the latest upsurge has affected children under five years old particularly hard. In the first two weeks of July, Médecins Sans Frontières treated 946 children in this age group. And while the number of new cases per week is high in itself, the Médecins Sans Frontières team suspects that many more people will have contacted the deadly disease in villages which are out of reach of medical care.

"It's possible that some of the population do not have access to care," continues Moore. "Our planning includes sending an exploratory team to all the villages around our intervention zones, and ensuring that the population is informed about Médecins Sans Frontières medical facilities. In case we find some areas without access, we'll see if it is possible to send a mobile medical team."

Southern Sudan is just emerging from years of debilitating civil war with the north, and the country faces vast needs in all areas of healthcare. Médecins Sans Frontières teams work in numerous areas across the south, with projects ranging from aiding the displaced to fighting diseases such as Tuberculosis, Ebola and Kala Azar.

In the Bahr El Ghazal region, Médecins Sans Frontières has been providing primary healthcare assistance to the population since the early nineties, as well as training Sudanese medical staff and maintaining an early warning system in case of disease outbreak.

James Lorenz

Caring for victims of war
The peace process between northern and southern Sudan that has been underway since 2002 has renewed hopes for an end to Africa's longest-running civil war. The conflict has cost almost two million lives, mostly civilians who have died from hunger and disease. Yet amid talk of peace between the north and the south, the westernmost region of Sudan, Darfur, became the site of a growing catastrophe in the past year.

For years, MSF has assisted people in both northern and southern Sudan, providing basic health care at hospitals or through networks of clinics and health centers. Its work has included treating people with tuberculosis (TB), kala azar (visceral leishmaniasis) and other diseases; providing food; and treating the severely malnourished. MSF also delivers clean drinking water and provides sanitary facilities in areas where displaced people have sought shelter. » More

COUNTRY PROFILE Sudan
Population: 32,559,000
Life expectancy: 57 years
Expatriate staff: 282 | National staff: 3,657
MSF has worked in Sudan since 1979.

Sudan

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