Treatment is provided to 16,000 children in mass malaria campaign in South Sudan

By

Peter Louis

In response to a dramatic rise in incidence of malaria cases in the UN Protection of Civilians Camp (PoC) in Bentiu, South Sudan, the medical humanitarian organisation Medecins Sans Frontiers / Doctors Without Borders, in cooperation with UNICEF, has completed a door-to-door campaign providing malaria treatment to over 16,000 children between the ages of six months and five years.

In the last seven weeks, MSF teams have been treating as many as 4,000 malaria patients every week in its healthcare facilities in the Bentiu Protection of Civilians camp (PoC), a staggering 43 fold increase from figures at the beginning of the year. As a result of the skyrocketing malaria caseload, compounded by limited access to basic healthcare and lack of early access to diagnosis and treatment of malaria, many children have been arriving at the MSF hospital inside the PoC with severe malaria infections. Last week an average of three children died from malaria every day in the hospital after arriving in critical condition. In response, MSF and UNICEF launched a door-to-door treatment campaign to facilitate earlier access to malaria treatment for children.

“The malaria outbreak in the Bentiu camp is unprecedented in scope and has been claiming the lives of far too many children,” says Vanessa Cramond, MSF Medical Coordinator in Bentiu. “With the escalating morbidity and mortality witnessed in the under-five population, it was evident another response strategy was needed to reach those most at risk of death.”

The joint campaign took place from September 10 to September 17 as community health teams went door-to-door identifying all children under the age of five with symptoms of malaria. Over 210 community healthcare workers were employed in the campaign assessing approximately 30,000 children for suspected malaria and providing 16,118 with treatment.

“Our goal with this emergency response has been to provide early access to malaria treatment to the most vulnerable segment of the population – children under five years old – before their condition deteriorates to the point that their lives are placed in serious jeopardy.”

The population of the Bentiu PoC has more than doubled since May to over 110,000 people, putting enormous strain on existing medical and humanitarian resources. In the last two months, MSF has increased its medical operations significantly, opening three new emergency child health clinics and three dedicated malaria health points inside the PoC, training and employing 120 community health workers to monitor the health status of the population. The humanitarian medical organisation has also expanded the bed capacity of its hospital by over 60 beds to a total of more than 170.

The hospital in the Bentiu PoC is the only one for the population of the camp. It provides 24-hour emergency room care, intensive care for malnourished children, and medical treatment in paediatric and adult wards as well as surgical and maternity services. As a result of other concurrent outbreaks of infectious diseases, MSF also operates two isolation wards for patients with suspected Hepatitis E and Measles. More than 40 international staff and 350 local staff support the organisation’s operations in Bentiu.

MSF is one of the largest providers of neutral, independent, impartial medical humanitarian assistance in South Sudan, with more than 3,300 staff across the country. At present, they operate projects in seven of the ten states of South Sudan.

Earlier this year, MSF warned that South Sudan might be on track for a second, exceptionally severe malaria season as the organisation witnessed large spikes in malaria admissions in its projects across the country. In 2014, they treated more than 170,000 patients for malaria across the country.

Peter Louis

Peter Louis works as a freelance Videographer and Journalist in the Republic of South Sudan. He previously worked for Ebony TV, South Sudan Radio and South Sudan TV, Wau.