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South Sudan emerged from a
21-year civil war
after the signing of the
Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) between North Sudan and
South Sudan in January 2005. However four years later, the
region is still not stable and medical needs
remain critical. Diseases that have not been seen in the
country for years now threaten to take the lives of men,
women and children. In a country with a population of an
estimated 11 million, there is only one trained doctor for
every 100,000 people.
In addition
to the ongoing violent attacks, malnutrition is prevalent;
maternal mortality rates remain among the highest in
the world; HIV/AIDs and guinea worm are
ongoing problems; and large-scale outbreaks of meningitis,
cholera, and malaria are relentless. In the
midst of all of this, humanitarian aid is lacking, with some
major donors having redirected their funds and the number of
humanitarian agencies reducing due to a lack of resources.
Because of
the Duk Lost Boys Clinic, John Dau’s home village of Duk
Payuel is now a preferred location for the UN to repatriate
thousands of displaced
families. Over
19,000 Internal Displaced People (IDP) from Duk County are
being transported back to their areas with the onset of
peace. The situation of these returnees upon their arrival
back home is of great concern to Duk County.
The living and health standards are very poor.
Failure of the Clinic will mean that the men, women and
children of the region will no longer have access to even
the most basic of healthcare services. |
It is estimated that only 25% of South Sudanese have access
to health facilities. |
