ICRC opens new operating theatre in Juba Military Hospital, South Sudan

(All Photos Credit: ICRC)

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has inaugurated a new operating theatre at the Juba Military Hospital, in Central Equatorial State, South Sudan.

The facility is the first operating theatre that the ICRC has built in South Sudan from the ground up – the construction process took approximately 13 months to complete.

The new operating theatre will be used to provide medical surgeries, particularly for patients who were wounded by weapons. The ICRC said the theatre would ‘enable surgical teams to … improve the quality of services provided to patients in South Sudan, including infection control and transfer of weapon-wounded patients’.

South Sudan has experienced protracted violence since its independence in 2011, placing further pressure on the country’s health facilities.

The ICRC noted that the new facility would also help to ‘address the needs of wounded patients entering the country’ from neighbouring Sudan, in light of the ongoing armed conflict there^[1].

Juba Military Hospital is one of two surgical units in South Sudan supported by the ICRC, alongside the Akobo County Hospital in Jonglei State. The ICRC stated that a quarter of the patients treated for gunshot wounds in these units are women and children.

“South Sudanese and ICRC surgeons often work in difficult conditions and still accomplish great results, performing difficult surgeries under pressure,” said Pierre Dorbes, Head of the ICRC delegation in Juba. “We hope that this facility and knowledge sharing will empower South Sudanese medical staff in their difficult work.”

References

1. ^{^} in light of the ongoing armed conflict there (www.itij.com)