GENEVA—The situation of 170,000 Sudanese refugees living in camps and settlements across South Sudan's Unity and Upper Nile states is alarming and there are worries about an outbreak of cholera, U.N. refugee agency officials said on Friday. Heavy rains and flooding in low-lying areas along with cold temperatures have contributed to the spread of respiratory tract infections, diarrhea and malaria, the officials said. Dr. Paul Spiegel, the chief medical officer for the U.N. refugee agency, said they are considering a mass immunization for cholera, a waterborne disease that can cause acute diarrhea and vomiting and kill within hours through dehydration. The camps in Upper Nile state are located among the most remote and underdeveloped regions in South Sudan. During most of the year, food is brought in over unpaved roads or flown in on planes and helicopters. Then roads and runways deteriorate when the rainy season starts in June. In Upper Nile, nearly half the refugees are under the age of 11. The children have been suffering the most because their mothers or other caregivers are too sick and weak to look after them, said U.N. agency spokesman Adrian Edwards. Edwards says nearly 1,600 children, or nearly 15 percent of all the children younger than five, are severely malnourished in Yusuf Batil, a camp hosting 34,000 Sudanese from Blue Nile state. They are being treated in a special medical program to nurse them to health. The refugees from the Nuba mountains in Sudan's Blue Nile state have fled fighting between the rebels and Sudanese government forces. Fighting between the government and the rebels broke out in Sudan's South Kordofan state following South Sudan's independence in July 2011. The number of Sudanese refugees has nearly doubled from 99,000 in April. In camps along the north-south border, they have endured food and water shortages as well as the occasional bombing, which South Sudan says are carried out by Sudanese warplanes. The refugee agency says it has launched a new drive this month to improve health and sanitation. "We are putting particular emphasis on good basic hygiene. We are trying to impress upon refugees the importance of fundamentals like hand-washing, collecting water in clean buckets and not defecating in the open," Edwards said.
Newer articles:
- UN: says poor health 'quite alarming' among South Sudan refugees - Washington Post - 25/08/2012 00:50
- UN: South Sudan soldiers torture civilians - News24 - 24/08/2012 16:03
- Dire Health Conditions In South Sudan Prompt Airdrops - NPR (blog) - 24/08/2012 13:07
- UN says poor health plagues South Sudan refugees - NewsWest9.com - 24/08/2012 05:52
- UN says poor health plagues South Sudan refugees - WGME - 24/08/2012 05:51
Older news items
- A Tiny Life Ends in South Sudan - New York Times (blog) - 24/08/2012 05:00
- South Sudan seeks international firm to run new airline - Reuters - 23/08/2012 19:01
- Sudanese refugee organized fundraiser walk to help developing South Sudan - The Augusta Chronicle - 23/08/2012 18:25
- Sudan/South Sudan: Can the Issue of Ngok Dinka Citizenship be Resolved? - Global Voices Online - 23/08/2012 18:24
- Guest Commentary: Native son returns to South Sudan - Denver Post - 23/08/2012 08:09
Latest news items (all categories):
- South Sudan names NBL-laden Olympic squad - 03/05/2024 12:48
- RDF Army Chief of Staff visits Rwandan peacekeepers in South Sudan - 03/05/2024 12:42
- Opinion: How the UAE’s mafia-style tactics are hurting both Sudans - 03/05/2024 12:37
- Thousands of desperate people still fleeing Sudan's war into South Sudan - 03/05/2024 12:29
- South Sudan open for Kenyan investors, central bank says - 03/05/2024 12:25
Random articles (all categories):
- The Guardian view on the South Sudan crisis: give the people a chance to craft a peace - 12/07/2015 12:53
- South Sudan's Transitional Constitution and the Issue of Decentralization - 14/05/2013 22:48
- South Sudan is Not Afraid of Ethiopia: Information Ministry Official Warns! - 22/01/2017 00:00
- South Sudan Warring Sides Agree to 'Matrix' to End Violence - 26/08/2014 21:21
- South Sudan says cutting oil flows on Sudan's insistence - 18/07/2013 05:16
Popular articles:
- Who is the darkest person in the world, according to Guinness World Record? - 25/10/2022 02:34 - Read 33301 times
- No oil in troubled waters - 25/03/2014 15:02 - Read 21866 times
- School exam results in South Sudan show decline - 01/04/2012 17:58 - Read 20748 times
- NDSU student from South Sudan receives scholarship - In-Forum - 29/09/2012 01:44 - Read 17330 times
- With prisons full, South Sudan to introduce mobile courts to clear backlog of cases - 11/10/2012 11:29 - Read 14219 times