Charity organization Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) has announced complete shutdown of its hospital in Ulang county of Upper Nile citing security concern.
The organization also withdrew its support to 13 primary health facilities in the county hence leaving people in complete dilemma amidst government poor funded health centers.
According to a press statement extended to the media, Zakaria Mwatia, MSF head of mission for South Sudan confirmed the decision.
The decision to close down followed a series of attacked on its bases in Ulang county of Upper Nile state.
These hostilities started when the armed youth in the area clashed with the government forces and later destroyed the health facilities.
In respond to these damages, MSF suspended all its medical services permanently in the area.
“The hospital infrastructure, in which MSF had invested millions of euros, was completely destroyed. In addition, intruders looted medicines worth €135,000 enough to run the hospital for months and care for thousands of patients,” the statement reads in part.
According to the medical charity, this has left the hospital in ruins and unable to function.
“They took everything: medical equipment, laptops, patients’ beds and mattresses from the wards, and approximately nine months’ worth of medical supplies, including two planeloads of surgical kits and drugs delivered just the week before. Whatever they could not carry, they destroyed,” said ZakariaMwatia, MSF head of mission for South Sudan.
“The extensive losses from the looting have left us without the necessary resources to continue operations. We have no other option but to make the difficult decision to close the hospital and our support to 13 primary healthcare facilities, as they all relied on the hospital for medical supplies, referrals, and technical support” Mwatia added.
Since its launch in 2018, the MSF project in Ulang has provided vital healthcare services to over 150,000 people across Ulang County. This included running a secondary care hospital and supporting 13 primary healthcare facilities throughout the region.
Over the past seven years, MSF has carried out more than 139,730 outpatient consultations, admitted 19,350 patients, treated 32,966 cases of malaria, and assisted 2,685 maternal deliveries, among other essential services.
During this time, MSF also facilitated patient referrals by boat along the Sobat River, provided support to Nasir County Hospital, and responded to multiple emergencies and disease outbreaks.
