Juba Teaching Hospital, Southern Sudan
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Health
The Southern Sudan was hit by pandemic tropical diseases such as malaria, tuberculosis and
acute lower respiratory and helminthic infections, kinetoplastid diseases, sexually transmitted
disease and recently by HIV/AIDS that reported to have increased swiftly especially in Western
Equatoria State where the Young Shepherds operates. Also there is high rate of infant mortality,
death at childbirth, and malnutrition of children. All these were caused by the influx of
internal displaced persons and the returnees from the neighboring countries. Many children in
Southern Sudan have died. They were killed either in the civil war or died during childbirth
and early infancy due to lack of health care services and trained medical personnel.
Although a Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) was signed in Sudan in the year 2005, today,
the healthcare situation in Southern Sudan is extremely poor due to lack of health
care facilities.
As a result, death rate in Southern Sudan is more than what occurred during the period of civil
war in Southern Sudan. In the urban towns such as Juba, Wau, Malakal, Yei and several other places
where there exist large hospitals, there are no deliverable health care services to the community.
Attending hospitals for minor illness, means an invitation of another major infection to oneself
because the hospitals are over-crowed. Patients normally lie on the rough hard floor in the verandahs
or at the corridors for an indefinite time, gambling a chance to meet a medical doctor for a treatment.
Consequently, some patients choose to quit as a preference to die at home than to wait for immeasurable
sufferings.
The Young Shepherds' Medical Team
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In other hospitals in the rural areas such as in Lui in East Mundri County where the Young Shepherds
operates, patients must buy their own drugs, gloves or plaster from the private drug stores in order
to enable the doctors to attend them because the hospital doesn’t have the necessary materials.
In July 2009, the Young Shepherds shipped 140 lb. of medical equipment and medications for
Lui Hospital but due to the inefficiency of the transportation network in Africa, five boxes
were lost en-route. Our health program is seeking funding to construct health care centers, and
small clinics equipped with modern medical equipment, and trained medical personnel than shipping
drugs to reduce high toll of death in the Southern Sudan communities. The HIV/AIDS is currently
reported to have increased immensely across the ten States in Southern Sudan; thus, the healthcare
centers will be used for training local staff for HIV/AIDS testing and awareness.
