Médecins Sans Frontières/Doctors Without Borders (MSF) is alarmed by the escalating armed clashes in South Sudan’s Upper Nile state, which have displaced thousands and restricted access to healthcare amid a cholera outbreak. As people flee for safety, cholera is spreading rapidly, claiming lives and deepening the humanitarian crisis.
MSF teams are actively responding to urgent medical needs across multiple locations in Upper Nile State, including Ulang, Malakal, and Renk counties, by providing lifesaving care and expanding activities along the Sobat corridor to reach more people affected by violence and cholera.
“We call on all parties to the conflict to respect and protect civilians, medical facilities, and humanitarian workers, as well as to grant unhindered humanitarian access to people being affected by the violence and cholera, in line with international humanitarian law,” says Zakaria Mwatia, MSF Head of Mission in South Sudan. “As an independent medical organisation, we provide care to all in need regardless of their armed or political affiliations.”
Since the beginning of March, MSF has treated over 400 patients with cholera in Ulang and provided trauma care to more than 30 patients wounded in the ongoing violence. Our teams are also supporting multiple local health facilities along the Sobat and Nile rivers. MSF also operates a hospital in the Protection of Civilians (PoC) site in Malakal and supports Malakal Teaching Hospital.
“Our teams in Renk County have recently expanded support for surgical services at Renk County Hospital, in addition to primary healthcare to the displaced people from Sudan at the refugees and returnees' sites in Atham, Girbanat, and Gosfami. Cholera has already spread to the neighbouring Jonglei State, where we are running a 100-bed cholera treatment unit at Akobo County Hospital and the MSF hospital in Lankien treating patients including those from Upper Nile State,” adds Mwatia.
“With cholera spreading rapidly and violence ongoing, the need for medical care in Upper Nile State is more critical than ever!” concludes Mwatia.
Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Médecins sans frontières (MSF).
