South Sudan – Emergency Health Care – Doctors without Borders Canada 2015

March 2015 – Nearly four years since independence internal conflict continues to devastate the lives of millions of people in South Sudan. On December 2013 violence broke out in Juba South Sudan’s capital and quickly spread throughout the country. The humanitarian consequences of the ongoing crisis include: massive population displacement; high mortality rates; increasing food insecurity; disrupted livelihoods; and wide-scale malnutrition. Over 1.5 million people are internally displaced within the country over 103 000 individuals are seeking physical protection in UN bases and over 500 000 South Sudanese have fled the country. Agricultural production is disrupted and essential basic services such as safe drinking water schools and medical facilities have been shut down or destroyed in the fighting. With DFATD’s support Doctors Without Borders Canada is improving access to emergency health services for a total of 412 500 displaced persons and host communities in Unity State (157 000) Agok and the Abyei Administrative Areas (120 000) and Upper Nile State (135 500). Project activities include: (1) conducting 110 000 outpatient consultations over 23 200 other health consultations and treating 8 160 patients with ambulatory therapeutic feeding; (2) providing treatment to 6 020 inpatients and providing 1 250 patients with intensive therapeutic feeding; (3) conducting over 1 500 safe deliveries; and (4) providing 24-hour emergency care and surgery for conflict-related trauma including comprehensive care for survivors of sexual and gender-based violence.

The expected outcomes for this project include: (1) increased access to emergency health care; (2) increased capacity of local health centres to address conflict-related emergencies; and (3) increased access to emergency reproductive and obstetric-related care. The expected ultimate outcome is lives saved suffering alleviated and human dignity maintained in countries experiencing humanitarian crises or acute food insecurity.