Epidemic in South Sudan: the SRC deploys a rapid response team
News
•South Sudan is struggling to contain a cholera epidemic that is currently out of control. 370 people have already lost their lives and more than 20 000 others are being treated. The Red Cross has launched an urgent appeal and is deploying personnel to help the population.
With the support of the Swiss government, the SRC has brought together a rapid response team that will be deployed to South Sudan alongside teams from various other sister societies.
Initially, a team leader and two specialists will be deployed. Over the next few months, they will help the South Sudan Red Cross set up mobile health stations where patients can receive saline solution and drinking water.
They will also help train volunteers who will assess the patients’ state of health and refer them to a health centre if necessary. They will take part in setting up and staffing oral rehydration points.
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Urgent treatment required
The cholera epidemic broke out in the north of the country, along the border with Sudan, and spread rapidly throughout the country. The disease kills through extreme dehydration caused by severe vomiting and diarrhoea. The elderly, pregnant woman and children are especially vulnerable and need urgent treatment.
All communities are affected by the outbreak. The people affected need essential supplies of clean water, food and suitable medicines, along with access to healthcare.
Vincenza Mancuso, SRC country coordinator in Juba, the capital
Local Red Cross society supports the population
The South Sudan Red Cross is helping the healthcare authorities to treat the sick. To stem the epidemic, it is setting up oral rehydration points and educating the population in good practices to prevent the disease spreading further.
Flooding and cholera
South Sudan is currently coping with various crises:
• 75% of the population depends on humanitarian aid.
• Last year, incessant rainfall caused Lake Victoria and the River Nile to burst their banks. The flood waters submerged villages and fields. Close to 1.4 million people have been affected, creating the ideal conditions for the spread of diseases, such as cholera, which is transmitted in contaminated water.
• Due to the ongoing conflict in Sudan, South Sudan has received an influx of more than 800 000 people. These are either South Sudanese who are returning home, Sudanese refugees, or other nationals who are seeking refuge.
• The increasing malnutrition and the overcrowding in the transit camps have created the ideal conditions for the rapid transmission of the disease among host communities, returnees and refugees.